Not The Roads We Know
by Ashrel Fury
Summary: Due to a mix of Druid and Fae Magic, Stiles ends up in a Parallel universe were things happened very differently than he remembers. According to the rule of Parallel Universes, one event that happened or choice that was made leads to multiple different outcomes. So what event could possibly ruin the pack the he knows and loves to this extent? Sterek!Mates Follows Teen Wolf S1,2,3
1. Not The Roads We Know

**Not The Roads We Know**

**One Shot**

Magic wasn't something that came easy to Stiles, whether or not he was born with it like his mother. Being a teenage boy with ADHD was hard enough as it is, but when he came into his powers at 11 years old everything just got worse.

Control was important; it one of the first things he was required to learn, though mainly because he'd almost burned the house down once when he'd gotten angry at his dad for grounding him from seeing Scott. All things considered Stiles was actually very proud of his control now. A good seven years of practice did him endless amounts of good, but he still wasn't perfect.

Which is why he was currently here. In a parallel dimension.

He knew it was parallel because some things were the same. The place in which he was standing was the same as his dimension, the people around him were the same as his dimension, even the druid and hunters they were currently up against was the same, but there was definitely something wrong.

"Stiles! Stay out of the way!" Derek roared as he pushed Stiles into the burned remains of the Hale House, taking the dart of wolfs bane to the shoulder instead of letting it hit Stiles.

"What the hell Derek?! That wouldn't have hit me in the first place, I've got a spell up numb nuts!" Stiles called back. He didn't miss the looks of confusion he got from the rest of the pack, but right now was not the time to question shit. They needed to get the hunters away and take the druid down. "Scott! Take Isaac and Boyd and draw the hunters away! Erica and Malia can handle holding the druid down!"

Now the werewolves around him were full out freaked, but that didn't matter. "Scott go!" Stiles yelled before turning back to Derek, pulling the dart out without warning and waving a hand over the wound. He paid no mind to Derek's growl, or the howl in his ear to "Get the hell away!". He needed to handle this situation before it got out of hand.

"Derek, where's Jackson? We need some muscle." Stiles asked, keeping his eyes up for any more darts, he had a spell up around them so nothing short of silver bullets would cut through his magic. Fae were weak against silver after all.

Derek's face was a mixture of anger, grief, and full out bewilderment. Stiles scowled at him and grabbed his shoulder. "Answer me Derek."

"Jackson's in Europe Stiles! He left the pack years ago!"

Oh shit…You have got to be kidding me.

"Then what about Boyd? Scott looked at me like I kicked his puppy and he couldn't understand why."

The look on Derek's face lost the anger but doubled the grief, and kept all of the bewildered. Stiles almost didn't want to hear the answer. Not that he had too, as the druid chose that moment to make an attack.

A silver dagger came flying and Stiles cursed as he used his own burst of magic to push himself and Derek out of the path of danger.

He reached into his boot for his own silver dagger and lobbed it back, expecting to miss. Only, he didn't miss. The druid wasn't expecting a silver weapon, so when he tried to use his magic to fling the dagger away, it lodged itself right between the eyes, exactly where Stiles had aimed. The druid fell with a sick thump to the ground. To be honest, it was rather anticlimactic as Derek and Stiles kneeled together on the front porch of the bones of the Hale House, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Stiles!"

The female voice calling his name startled him enough that he rose from his possession next to Derek and looked around for the speaker, though he recognized the voice. Malia came running at him like a torpedo and he smiled at her, opening his arms for a hug. What he was not expecting, however, was the brutal kiss she landed on his lips.

The shock lasted longer than he would admit to, but the second his brain caught up with him, he pushed her way violently, not that it did much to her other than surprise her.

Stiles whipped a hand over his mouth and turned wide eyes to Derek, opening his mouth to speak even before the older wolf rose.

"I don't know what that was! I swear to god Derek, I didn't do it. She came at me! You saw it, it wasn't me, I didn't even encourage it! I'm surprised she would even do that in front of you! She knows what even hugging me makes you feel! I'm sorry, I won't let it happen again, okay? Don't kill her, I'm sure she didn't even mean it, she's just glad I didn't die. Right Malia?" He turned pleading eyes to the female wolf only to be met with confused and hurt brown eyes. His gaze didn't linger, instead he looked back at Derek who never lost the grief, anger, bewilderment thing he had going on. "Derek?" Stiles asked tentatively.

No one got the chance to speak as Scott came back from the edge of the clearing carrying Kira, panting but otherwise unharmed. Scott put Kira down after a moment and hugged her, kissing her temple and nose before he kissed her lips.

Stiles gasped before he marched up to Scott and hit him in the back of the head. Hard.

"What the fuck Scott!" Stiles yelled, getting even angrier when Scott turned confused and hurt eyes to him. That was becoming a trend now, confusion and hurt. "What the hell is Allison going to think when she sees you kissing Kira?! Just because they're friends doesn't mean you can fuck both of them Scott!"

And there was the grief. Just like in Derek's face, at the mention of Boyd.

What the hell was going on here?

"Scott? Why do you look like you're about to cry?" Stiles asked quietly, the anger having burned away in the face of Scott's sorrow.

"What are you talking about Stiles?" Kira asked instead. She was standing next to Scott, holding his hand and squeezing it tightly as if in support. Stiles was further thrown for a loop when an unknown teenage boy came out into the clearing with blood covering his white shirt.

"Holy shit, who the hell are you?!" Stiles yelled, mostly because the boy was wolfed out, yellow eyes burning holes into Stiles' face. Again the confusion was there.

Malia came up behind Stiles, her hand laying softly on his arm. That was strange in itself - Malia was never soft. "Stiles that's Liam. You know Liam. You're the one who told me that he was pack."

Stiles furrowed his brows and turned from her to the boy, Liam, before looking at Scott and Kira, their clasped hands, and then turning to Derek.

"Derek…" His voice was so small to his own ears. It was almost a whispered whine. "What's going on here?"

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"Boyd's dead?" Stiles voice wavered as he looked around the living room at each member of his pack. At what was left of his pack.

"Yes Stiles." Lydia sighed. She looked so tired, almost a little dead inside. Stiles could understand though, her best friend had died after all. "Erica, Allison, Aiden, even Isaac, and Jackson are gone."

All he could do was nod dumbly, not really sure if he understood what his pack had just told him. More than half of his pack, more than half of the people he had just hung out with and ate dinner with last night… Were gone.

His eyes strayed to Derek, who looked so lost and sad that Stiles couldn't help it. Stiles went to him.

Everyone was shocked when he ran his hands over Derek's hair, but no one so much so as Derek himself. Almost on instinct his hand shot out to grab Stiles wrist in a bruising grip, but all Stiles did was wince. "Right, sorry. Sorry. Forgot. Not my Derek."

Stiles forced out a grin before pulling his hand from Derek's grip and backing away. He looked to Lydia again. "Okay, can you go through it again? Everything that's happened since Scott got bit."

It was a long story. Familiar, but at the same time completely different than what Stiles had experienced in his own dimension. So many pack members lost, so many not even bothering to stick around. Jackson, Ethan, Isaac, Cora, and Danny all of them left this pack in search of something better. Not to mention all of those truly lost. Allison, Aiden, Boyd, Erica, even Stiles himself it seemed had endured a very hard patch.

When Lydia was done for the second time, everyone eyed Stiles like he was a circus performer. Everyone waiting to see his next trick, but Stiles was still too caught up in all of the new information to entertain them. This couldn't be happening, none of this could be true.

"That can't be possible… No one… No one dies in my world. No one leaves, everyone's together guys." He looks around at every face, his eyes pleading and filled with unshed tears.

"It's impossible. Jackson wouldn't leave." He rounded on Lydia. "He loved you! After everything he did, he stayed for you!" Her own eyes were brimming with tears now. Tears so fat that Stiles could actually watch them as they fell.

"And Boyd and Erica would never ask to leave the pack!" His eyes zeroed in on Derek. "You changed their lives! Gave them hope! They were never captured or killed and Cora came to find you just in time to help save everyone from the Alpha pack." God he felt pathetic looking at Derek's sorrow filled eyes with a plea on his lips. "And Allison…" His eyes fell on Scott who flinched back, tears already falling. Just seeing Scott's reaction was heartbreaking and Stiles couldn't even breathe for a second.

It was all true. Everything they told him.

"What was it like?" Malia's voice came from the foot of the stairs where she was hiding, slightly further away from everyone. Stiles looked at her blankly for a second, so she asked again. "What was your world like? It's obvious you didn't come from here, you aren't our Stiles."

The second she said that, Stiles felt it. No, he wasn't their Stiles and this wasn't his pack. His eyes found Derek on their own, but the older wolf was looking away. Stiles tried to reach for it, the connection of an emissary to the Alpha, but he couldn't find the link. That wasn't even his Derek.

"Who's the Alpha?" Stiles asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Scott was the one who spoke for the first time since Stiles arrived in this strange parallel dimension of horror. "Me."

Stiles couldn't stop his mouth from falling open, which was probably an insult, but the shock was just too much. He looked from Scott to Derek, and back again.

Before he could stop it, he started laughing.

It wasn't a joyful sound, it wasn't even a nervous reaction, it was hysterical. It was crazy laughter, but it spilled out of him like a shaken soda can. He laughed so hard he was crying…And then he was sobbing.

No one moved to help him, though he could see that a few people wanted to. Malia and Scott being at the top. Not even Derek made a move to comfort him. Derek… What must his Derek be thinking right now? Faced with a broken Stiles who had to live with this broken pack. What must this world's Stiles think? Standing toe to toe with ghosts.

"No one's dead…" Stiles rasps out after a moment. Instantly everyone's attentions is focused on him once again, but he doesn't look up, just keeps his eyes to the ground. "Just last night we had a pack night. Allison even baked brownies." He looked up, searching her out even though he knew he wouldn't see her. But he did see her in a way. Stiles saw Allison in the look of heartbreak on Lydia and Scott's face.

"Boyd, Derek, and I played p…" he didn't bother turning to Derek, he could feel the awful gut wrenching pain as it was. "Erica gave Kira and Malia make-overs and even put a fashion show on with Allison for the other guys." God this was like torture. He could feel the oppressive cloud of darkness like an anvil. This group of people wasn't even a pack, not really. This pack didn't even come close to his own.

"Oh god…" Stiles moaned in agony as he gave up and sat on the floor. "Derek's going to go crazy…"

Like rubber band, everyone's heads snapped up, it was actually an audible thing. It made Stiles tense a bit, before he gave up for a second time and relaxed.

"What do you mean Derek is going to go crazy?" Scott asked with a weary edge. Stiles realized that he was trying to take control of the situation. Like an Alpha. God that was so weird. Back in his world everyone loved Scott, but no one would follow the boy to battle if their life depended on it.

"It's hard for a werewolf to be away from his mate, after they're found." Stiles answers simply. There was no way to sugar coat it.

The reaction time was phenomenal though.

It took everyone literally seven minutes to do anything and even then the first one to act was Malia. In an instant bit of growling and snarling, she was at Derek's throat, but Derek may have been prepared for it with how fast he acted.

Derek grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her over his shoulder, wolfing out himself as he stood from the couch. They snarled at each other, and Malia was about to try again, but Stiles intervened.

With a snap of his fingers he held a ball of flames that he sent down into the ground between them, getting both wolf to back away instantly.

"Back off!" Stiles yelled at them both, though his back was to Derek. It was instinctual almost, to protect Derek.

"He's not your mate! He's mine!" Malia screamed. She looked like she was about ready to charge again when Scott stood up and roared at her. Her wolf features melted away into a crushed teenage girl, and Stiles wanted to reach out to her. She was like his sister after all, he taught her out to fit back into human society back in the day. He'd talked her though being human and even talked to her about Peter being her father. He knew better though, if he reached out, he'd be accepting her claim. So instead, he spoke for himself.

"I don't belong to anyone. At least not anyone here." He looked over his shoulder at Derek, who, despite standing tall with his head held high, wouldn't meet Stiles' eyes. "I'm guessing you didn't tell the Stiles of this dimension that you two were mates?"

Finally, Derek looked at him, and in an instant Stiles could see it. The longing look that his own Derek used to send him back when everything started. Stiles was so caught up in that look, he barely noticed when Derek started talking.

"He didn't want me. I was the enemy for so long that when we were finally on the same side it was too late." Derek thinned his lips and then shook his head as if to clear it. Stiles recognized that move too, he was thinking self-deprecating thoughts.

"Hey there big guy, I don't think you understand what mates really are." Stiles knew he was barking up the wrong tree. Derek had grown up with the tales of life long mates and the happiness of being meant for each other. Still, Stiles had felt the mating bond when it was complete, this Derek hadn't.

It didn't stop Derek from rolling his eyes and sneering though.

"So what? You really are Derek's mate?" Liam, the teenage boy Stiles didn't know, spoke up this time. Stiles had honestly forgotten the boy was even there. "Is there really such a thing as mates? For bitten werewolves too?" The boy sounded hopeful, not that Stiles wasn't surprised. If even Derek was a closet romantic, then everyone had a little romance in them.

Stiles grinned over at the boy before it fell and he shook his heads. "Bitten wolves were originally human. While they can find a mate, it won't be what it was for me and Derek." It was weird. Looking at Derek's face but not seeing Derek. "For us it was instinct. An unexplainable draw that bound us together. Even my magic called out to him, like his wolf called out to me."

"Magic?" This was from Kira, who was smiling though more than a little lost. That look was so familiar. At least Kira didn't change.

Stiles nodded again, and stole a glance at Derek, before speaking. "I'm the pack emissary. Back in my dimension, or my universe, or world or whatever. I'm not a Druid though, I'm part Fae."

"Stiles is a fairy?" Lydia's eyes were wide, but everyone else just looked lost. Stiles scowled at her.

"Can we not use that word? God, Jackson mocked me for years after you blurted out that exact thing, the first time I told you guys." And it was true too, Jackson and Isaac both had been merciless in their teasing.

"So, you are a fairy." Stiles had forgotten about Malia, but when her voice growled from beside him, he was back to staring at her as she bared her teeth. Her emotions were everywhere on her face and body, but there were so many of them that Stiles couldn't honestly pick a singular one out.

"No." He said tentatively. "I just have an affinity for magic. A powerful spark."

"What's the difference between a Fae and a Druid?" Lydia asked. There was interest in her eyes now. A quest for knowledge that Stiles was very familiar with. It made him feel a bit more connected to this broken group, Malia and Liam aside.

He was about to answer, when Derek cut in instead. "Druids are humans bound to the earth and thus able to use the earth as a power source for magic. The Fae are essentially made of magic." His gaze was boring into Stiles like a homing beacon. "I didn't know Stiles was Fae."

Stiles smiled a bit, he hadn't wanted to tell the others either until Derek had confronted him on his strange smell. By that point though, his magic had progressed a lot under his mother's watchful care. At that thought his smile dropped a bit.

"In my world, Derek smelled the magic in me. I'd been training with my mom since I was eleven, so I was strong enough to warrant detection when we met. You didn't confront me about it until Jennifer Blake though."

Scott's sharp inhale had everyone's notice. And so did his words.

"Stiles, in this universe, your mom died when you were seven."

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Okay, so, Stiles was freaked out. Really, no one should expect any more of him given the situation.

Not two seconds ago he had been cowering on the porch of the Hale House with Derek's bulky wolf frame blocking his view of the edge of the woods, and now he was standing right in front of the red door like the tiny black circle on a dart board. Not only that, but Derek was standing sentinel just down the steps, his back to Stiles but his senses obviously alert.

"Um… Der-" his words were cut off by Derek sharply turning his head to the left, then hissing out in a low whisper.

"Stiles can you tell where the druid is?"

Is that even a question? It sounded like a request, but Stiles was fairly certain he couldn't do something like that. He wasn't a werewolf. Actually he wasn't anything.

"Okay, not to burst your bubble wolf-dude, but last time I checked, I wasn't the badass wolf with the super senses." He laced as much sarcasm as he could into the words, hoping to irk Derek into a reaction. He'd been getting less and less of those recently. Not just from Derek though. The loss of more than half their little pack had been hard on everyone. The only one who seemed to react to his sarcasm and jokes anymore was Kira. Even Malia just gets confused every time.

He was honestly surprised when Derek turned to him with a look that spoke volumes for him. 'What the fuck, Stiles?' - it was the same look he used to get, back when they had first become part of the same pack, against their will as it had been.

But he didn't even have time to appreciate or question the reaction before a tall lanky form that Stiles was sure is the Druid we're looking for - Stiles internally snickered at his own joke, even as he opened his mouth to alert Derek of their approaching enemy. Just as he got his finger up to point and his mouth open to speak, two charging werewolf came from opposite sides of the tree line and caught the druid by surprise.

One of the werewolves made Stiles heart beat faster, the other stopped it completely.

His mind may or may not have disconnected on him at that exact moment, because the next thing he knew, the druid was bleeding on the floor and Derek was all the way across the clearing with the two female werewolves that had held the druid down.

All three wolves were looking at him now, but he only had eyes for one of them. A pretty blond one with beautiful and expressive hazel eyes.

"E-Erica?!" He half yelled and half whispered. The first syllable was so loud that his voice cracked, until he whispered the rest of the name that everyone in the pack had refused to say since the Alpha Pack events. One of the names anyways… God there were so many names they refused to repeat, especially to each other. It was sad and pathetic if Stiles was being honest, but that wasn't the point right now. The point was that Erica Reyes was standing there in the front yard of the Hale House with Derek and Malia.

What the fuck? Erica and Malia never even met before? What the hell is this? Why were ghosts walking around in Beacon Hills? Why was someone who had been dead for nearly a year and a half walking around and looking fine? Like really fine, seeing her was like seeing the first time she walked into school after Derek's bite all over again.

He didn't notice he was hyperventilating until strong and big arms were wrapped around him, pulling him into a strong and muscular chest and the familiar scent of leather and wood. Stiles had to actually take a minute to process what the hell was going on before he snapped out of it and pushed the arms and the person away.

"What the hell Derek! Personal space man, you don't see me putting my hands all over you!" Stiles tried to glare, but he was caught by surprise when, instead of stoically pissed, Derek just looked confused and hurt. Like Stiles had slapped him right across the face for no reason. That just kinda pissed him off even more, as well as made him feel a nauseating amount of guilt.

"Stiles?" Erica's voice was the same as he remembered it. As she came closer to lay her hand on his shoulder, he flinched back. He didn't know what she was, but he knew that he didn't want her touching him.

"Derek, this isn't funny. Playing with Voodoo is going to get all of us in serious trouble. Either that or you got someone to dress up like Erica, and I'm sorry to say man, but that's just low, even for you." He was speaking words before he even thought about them, and he regretted it the instant he saw the expressions it left on both non-Erica and touchy-Derek's faces. They were beyond hurt now, they looked down right betrayed.

"Stiles, I don't think you should be saying things like that." Malia walked up now, not making any move to lay a hand on Stiles, and that was even weirder than Derek hugging him. Since the day they started having sex, she used every opportunity possible to scent mark him, but now she wasn't even coming near even to reach a hand out to. And she glared at him.

He didn't say anything to that. He honestly had no words anymore. Although he did know one thing, he was beyond freaked. He'd actually now reached full on panic.

"Derek!" Scott's voice rang in the silence between the small group huddled in the front porch of the ashes of Derek's family, and Stiles finally felt relief. Oh thank god, Scott was coming. He'd call Derek out for being a dick and planting this very convincing Erica-look-alike in the middle of a fight with a freaking druid.

Only, Scott wasn't alone.

Again Stiles felt like the breath had been kicked from his lungs, and the rage was slowly climbing up from his toes to his chest to replace the air he'd lost.

Not only was Isaac-move-away-when-things-get-tough Lahey flanking Scott, but so was the six foot three wall of solid muscle that was Boyd. Dead Boyd. Boyd that was supposed to be buried in the cemetery with Erica, who was also standing right in front of him.

"What kind of sick joke are you guys playing?! This isn't fucking funny!" Stiles could feel the pit of his stomach boiling with anger and indignation. How could Scott stand here next to Boyd looking innocently confused, as if nothing was wrong at all? How could Derek stand there next to Erica, looking worried about Stiles? How could any of this be happening right now?!

"Stiles? Scott?"

The voice was so soft that Stiles almost didn't catch it. He wouldn't have actually, if the small clearing around the Hale House hadn't fallen into complete silence after his outburst. But he did hear it, and he almost snapped his neck with how fast his head whipped around to look for the speaker. In a sick way, hope bubbled behind his sternum. Hope that turned cold when he saw her there, smiling tentatively as she walked out from the tree line, her wavy brown hair bouncing and her cross bow hanging limply from her hand. Strong and kind as always.

"Allison…"

This couldn't be happening. Boyd and Erica were one thing, it wasn't like Stiles and Scott have ever been that close to the two, but Allison was different. Allison meant more, her memory meant more, and to use her face like that for a sick and twisted joke it… It was just wrong.

Like gasoline set on fire, Stiles rage burned fast and bright.

Before he even knew he'd thrown a punch, his fist was connecting to Derek's jaw so hard he was sure he broke some bones in his own hand as well as Derek's cheek. Whatever, Derek would heal, Stiles wouldn't.

"OW! Holy shit!" The rage gave way in the face of pain. Still, the blood pounded in his ears making it hard to hear anything. It didn't matter. The look on Derek's communicated better than words ever could. Betrayal, confusion, hurt, and anger battled for control of those thick and expressive eyebrows, but they couldn't settle on just one so it became an odd mix of all of them. That look sent Stiles' stomach to the bottom of his feet.

He looked around again. Erica, Derek, Malia, Scott, Isaac, Boyd, and Allison. Everyone was looking at him in varying shades of shock, started fear, and even controlled rage. There was nothing fake about any of those expressions, but that wasn't comforting. Actually, it just made things worse.

"Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on here?!" Stiles yelled at the top of his lungs.

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So, as it turns out, Erica, Boyd and Allison weren't the only walking dead around Beacon Hills. As the group of seven walked on a bit ahead, talking amongst themselves as they lead Stiles to his Jeep, they were met with more blasts from the past.

Jackson 'Jackass' Whittemore came near them with a raised eyebrow. Clearly he'd been hearing them murmur among themselves and he wasn't amused with what was being said. Stiles just followed, rolling his eyes and cradling his probably-broken hand. He was more than eighty percent sure that it was broken.

When Aiden and Ethan broke through the woods and saddled towards Derek, who was walking very stiffly ahead of everyone else, Stiles just resigned himself to walk through this. Soon enough they would get to Deaton, have his hand looked at, as well as being able to clear up questions and get all this 'seeing ghosts from the past' thing under control. He'd gotten past the shock at least. Well, okay, that wasn't true what-so-ever. The shock was almost a physical thing, keeping him at a distance from the rest of the pack.

Isaac was trailing behind a little. He kept looking back over his shoulder at Stiles with a frown every couple minutes. Stiles honestly didn't care at this point. He figured this was all a dream. Yep, a dream. No matter what the pain in his hand was telling him.

They got to the parking area they all used earlier in no time, everyone going off to their own vehicles with a lingering glance at Stiles and strangely enough one at Derek. Thing was… Stiles didn't see his Jeep anywhere.

"Okay, can one of you please tell me what you did with my Jeep? Can I just will it here or something? I can control that right?" Stiles didn't know if anyone would actual answer him until Derek turned to look at him. For the first time since the punch in the face, Derek looked him in the eye and Stiles shivered at the ice in them. They looked so cold and dead… Almost lonely.

"You didn't take your Jeep. We drove here in the Camaro. If you want to ride with Allison and Scott, I'm sure Isaac will have no problem coming with me instead." Derek's voice was even colder, if that was possible. It was stiff and emotionless, the words almost bitten out like he didn't even want to say anything to Stiles at all, much less offer a ride. Which had to be what he meant.

With a sigh, Stiles shook his head. "Nah, its alright. I came here with you right? Might as well leave with you. Is everyone meeting us at Deaton's?"

Derek nodded in jerky movements before making his way to the Camaro. Stiles followed behind him tiredly. For a dream, this was by far his most taxing one.

As they slipped into the car, Stiles noticed that his favorite hoodie was on the dashboard. "Oh." Stiles said dumbly, reaching out to grab the bright red zip up hoodie that he loved. Before his hand curled around the fabric, Derek's own big hand curled around his.

"I don't know why you're so mad at me." Derek said, voice low but much less icy. "But I'm sorry alright? What you did back there with the hunters, it was what needed to be done, and I'm sorry I called the plan stupid."

Stiles looked at Derek from the corner of his eye. He was both confused and unnerved. He tried to tug his hand away but Derek only held on tighter, not even looking at him. Stiles looked down at their hands and swallowed thickly. This was stupid, it had been almost a year since he talked himself out of his crush on Derek. Why was he so affected now? Was it because this was a dream? His dream? He could take advantage of it now right? After all it was his dream. Granted, usually his dreams about Derek involved a little less clothes and talking, and more touching.

No. Get it together Stiles! You're dating Malia, what are you doing dreaming about Derek?

Stiles shook his hand, trying a little harder to get it out from under Derek's.

"Look, I'm not mad about that…" He paused. "Even though I probably should be, doesn't matter if I remember it or not, my plans are never stupid. Anyways, I'm not mad about that. I'm mad about whatever voodoo witch craft you and Scott pulled to get Erica, Boyd, Allison, and Aiden back to life."

By this point, Derek had started driving out of the woods and towards the clinic, but as Stiles said the words 'back to life' Derek jerked the wheel sharply.

Stiles head slammed into the side of the car, a pained curse vibrating the tension in the car that his words had caused.

"What do you mean 'back to life' Stiles?" Derek asked. He looked so worried, so… Caring. Like anything Stiles said, he would understand and believe. Like he would really listen to whatever it was.

What the hell? Who was this person? It sure as hell wasn't Derek Hale. Not the point Stilinski. Focus here will ya?

"I mean 'Back. To. Life.' Derek." Stiles enunciated each word to get his point across. After a moment of silence, he realized it wasn't enough so he went on. "You know, back from the dead. I don't know what kind of magic Deaton pulled, or what happened, but you saw what it did to Peter. No one should come back from death Derek, and not at Lydia's expense."

Again, the tension was almost physical. It wrapped around Stiles tight, not even letting him move for fear of making a noise on the leather seats that would startle Derek into action. Not that Stiles knew what Derek would do, he just knew that whatever it was, he wouldn't like it.

So they road to Deaton's in silence. Thick, awkward, and tense silence that had ants crawling up and down the inside of Stiles' skin. God, it was almost painful.

As if sense this though, Derek reached forward and turned the radio on. Instantly, Stiles recognized the station. It was one of Stiles' favorites. Derek had Stiles' favorite station saved on his car's radio… Yeah, this had to be a dream.

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Two cars had gotten there before them. Allison and Jackson's cars were outside the clinic and when Derek pushed the doors open all heads turned to look at them. Or more specifically, at Stiles.

"Well hello there Stiles. It's a pleasure to see you again so soon. You're mother's in the back if you want to go and greet her."

Deaton's words, as well as his smile, slammed into Stiles like a freight train. Every werewolf in the building noticed his sudden but strong emotions and instantly, Stiles was pulled into the same chest that he had been up against earlier. This time though he didn't push Derek away. Not right away. He took a moment to collect himself, secretly grateful for Derek's silent strength that he was apparently letting Stiles borrow.

It took longer than he would ever like to admit, but soon, Stiles had his mind under control, even though his heart wouldn't stop racing. He pulled himself away from Derek, who looked down at him with that same worry from earlier. Stiles couldn't handle that right now. One step at a time, thank you very much.

Without saying a word to anyone gathered around the reception room, Stiles made his way into the back of the clinic. He had to stop at the door, not looking back to see the kind of expressions he was getting. That didn't matter. None of it did anymore because Deaton had said that his mother was in the back. That he could go back there and greet her. He could greet his mother.

With a deep breath, he pushed the door open and marched himself inside.

When he saw her, his knees went weak.

Yes, that was her. He recognized her from pictures that his dad kept hidden in a shoe box in the back of the hall closet. She was beautiful, light brown hair falling to the middle of her back but tied up at the nape of her neck. Her skin was pale like his, dotted with freckles. Her eyes were a bright honey brown and she smiled at him with happiness. With love.

He didn't even see the ground coming until it hit him in the face.

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"He thinks I'm dead?!"

Erica's voice was like a knife cutting to his blessed darkness, and he moaned to let her know that she needed to keep it down so he could sleep. Wait… Erica?! Boyd?! Allison! Aiden! Mom!

"Mom!" Stiles shouted as he bolted upright on the cold silver table they had put him down on. His eyes were snapping around wildly from face to face until her found her, pushing her way past his friends to get to his side.

"Really Genim, you aren't the type to faint like that." She chided with a smile.

Stiles felt the tears fall right before he threw himself at her.

He sobbed as he wrapped himself around her, calling out to her with every sob.

"Mom…. Mom…. Mom, Mom, Mom…"

He was pretty sure that he could feel the looks of confusion and sympathetic understanding from the people around the room, but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was her. His mother.

Claudia smiled as she wrapped her own arms around Stiles, pulling him tighter into her chest. She shushed him softly, petting his short hair with gentle touches. "Ssh baby, come on Genim, calm down. Ssh. You are a long way from home aren't you, my Genim?"

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Stiles couldn't help but cry as he curled into himself onto the bed in his room.

Scott hadn't been lying. His mom was dead. Had been for years. God, what must the other Stiles be feeling right now? He lived a life without his mother. How had he survived it? How had this Stiles' dad survived it?

John Stilinski had been out on patrol when the others had brought Stiles home, but upon his return, the sheriff had come to check on Stiles, only to find his son asleep in bed.

Yeah, I wish. Stiles thought bitterly. He didn't think he would ever sleep again. His mother was dead. Gone. He wouldn't see her, not in this universe. Not if he stayed here. Never again. But how was he going to get back? He didn't even know how he got here in the first place.

So Stiles cried. He sobbed out the frustration, the grief, the despair, he released it all into his pillow. It only took about two hours for the tears to slow, and another half for them to stop completely, but it hadn't help. Stiles still felt every emotion and none of them at all. It was weird. He felt so empty, but it was the emptiness that caused the negative emotions.

God he wanted Derek. He wanted his mate who was always sensitive to his emotions and would pull him into the strong planes of his chest without even saying a word. He wanted his mother who would tell him that just because he is eighteen, that doesn't mean that he knows everything and he still has a lot to learn. He wanted her smile and her safe embrace. God he wanted Derek.

Derek…

This universe had a Derek. It wasn't his, but it was close.

Not allowing himself to second guess his actions, Stiles reached for his phone and dialed the number he knew as well as his own name.

Maybe Derek was waiting for his call, because it only took two rings for the man to answer.

"Stiles?"

Derek sounded different than he had before when they all gathered in Scott's house. The wolf spoke softly, hope clear in his voice though it was obvious Derek was trying to hide it.

Stiles didn't want to question that. He wouldn't allow himself to. Instead he did what he did best and spoke before he thought better of it. "Hey, look, I know this isn't normal for you. I know we usually don't even talk… Usually…" Stiles groaned and thumped his forehead with the palm of his hands, squishing down his eyebrow and his eye before sighing. "Look Derek, I'm not doing so hot here alone. This is going to sound so weird for you but I… I need you okay? Back in my universe Derek… My Derek was… He was just…" Stiles didn't know how to explain and he wasn't talking fast enough. The nerves were sinking in and he was five seconds from hanging up. So he pushed the rest of his request out in one breath. "Can you come over here, please?"

Once the words were all out, Stiles held his breath as he waited for the answer. It came faster than Stiles had thought it would.

"I'll be right there."

And then Derek hung up. Just like that.

Stiles couldn't help the smile that blossomed onto his face. This Derek wasn't so different from his, not really. Not in what mattered. This universe's Stiles may not feel it, but he and Derek were mates. Derek felt it strongly, has been denying it for years. He must be going insane with the need for contact with his mate. Stiles felt for Derek. He really did. Even now his magic was whipping around inside him looking for the wolf that seemed to always be present.

Maybe he could give Derek some relief while he was here. He wasn't going to stay, he needed to get back to his own universe. Everyone was probably so confused dealing with a broken Stiles. Come to think of it, everyone in this universe was broken. More so than his own that is. No one more so than Derek and Scott though, the old and the new Alphas. Whatever, it wasn't him problem, not right now. His main priority was to find a way back. He needed to see his Derek again. To feel the bond pulling them together like gravity. Who knows, maybe his Derek was helping broken Stiles just like broken Derek was helping Stiles now.

There was a soft knock on his window and Stiles startled from his thoughts, before using his magic to open the window.

Derek slipped into the room with ease, but once inside it was like he didn't know what to do with himself. The wolf's eyes shifted from Stiles to look around the room and then back to Stiles, as he clenched and unclenched his fists. This Derek looked so much like his Derek when the wolf had first been introduced to John and Claudia Stilinski as Stiles' boyfriend-slash-mate, that it made Stiles grin.

Standing from his bed, he softly laid a land on one of Derek's clenched fists, before gently prying it open.

"I'm not your Stiles. I know that, and you know that. But I am still Stiles and you are still Derek." Stiles spoke softly, like any loud noise would startle the predator in his room into a flight or fight response. Actually, Stiles didn't doubt it very much. "So for now can we just… Can we just be Stiles and Derek?"

Stiles wanted to laugh when Derek pressed his lips, furrowed his eyebrows, and gave jerky nods.

Moving slowly, the Fae boy pulled Derek toward the bed. He felt Derek stiffen further and he glared at the mattress like it had caused him personal harm. This was exactly like the first time… This was exactly like the same Derek he had first mated with back in the day.

Derek wanted, but he didn't know what was okay to take. He craved, but he didn't know if he was allowed to. He was desperate but still holding back for the sake of someone else.

"No matter what universe, you don't change." Stiles murmured, more to himself than to Derek, though he would knew the wolf would hear him anyway.

Derek let the glare fall, his eyes softening instantly before they went sad. "That's not true. I would be different if my family had survived. I would be different if Laura hadn't ever come back to Beacon Hills. I would be different if instead of killing Peter, I had joined him."

Stiles froze as he listened to Derek speak. He realized that yes. While Derek had the same principles, one choice or one event would have changed even those. It made Stiles wonder.

"What was your Stiles like?" He asked lightly as he slipped Derek's jacket from his shoulders, throwing it over his desk chair.

The wolf didn't speak for a long time, instead allowing Stiles to sit him on the bed before removing his shoes and socks, then pushing at him until he laid back onto Stiles' bed.

Stiles was quick to climb in beside him, fitting himself against Derek's body with a practiced ease that amazed the older wolf.

"Stiles is… Strong." Derek finally said after a few minutes of awkward cuddling.

The Fae boy said nothing, just waiting for what else was to come.

"He's loyal too. He's been through a lot and he may not be physically capable, but he does his best to make up for it in other ways. And he does, you know? Every time, he finds a way to come through." Derek spoke in a reverent tone that Stiles had only ever heard his own Derek use when talking about Laura. If he were honest, it made him feel slightly jealous of the Stiles from this universe, but that was just stupid, so he ignored it and instead asked another question.

"And what's up with him and Malia?"

Stiles almost regretted asking when Derek went ridged and almost seemed to stop breathing all together. It only lasted seconds, but it had Stiles frowning as he slung his legs over Derek. He felt Derek's arm curve around his back and a warm hand land on his hip. He pushed his head a bit further into Derek's shoulder to show the big wolf that it was okay. This was okay.

"They were… Are dating." Derek admits rather awkwardly. "From what I hear, Malia started it and Stiles didn't say no."

Stiles could see that. He went through a phase a while ago concerning his inability to believe that anyone would find him attractive, and when Heather, a childhood friend of his, had shown interest, he jumped at the chance to feel wanted. Especially since the one he had wanted hadn't wanted him back… Or so he thought at the time.

"Did he tell her that Peter was her father?"

Derek didn't even need to speak for Stiles to know the answer. No. This universe's Stiles hadn't told Malia… And apparently no one had told Derek.

"She's my cousin?!" Derek had almost bolted all the way up, but Stiles' possession on his shoulder kept him from getting up completely. With a suffering sigh, Stiles forced Derek back down before he started speaking again.

"Yes. She's Peter's daughter." Stiles stated, not bothering to sugar coat it. He hadn't done it in his universe and he wasn't about to do it here. "Lydia found out a while ago. I'm guessing the only ones who know are Lydia, Scott, and your Stiles, since he hasn't even told you."

Derek huffed but relaxed back into the bed. The contact with his mate was making Derek relax into the beginnings of the bond. Into the peace of finally having what he denied himself for years. "He's not mine." The big wolf grumbled as his eyes closed.

Stiles smiled before yawning. "Not yet… But he will. If my Derek has anything to say about it."

He fell asleep like that, tucked against Derek's side with his feet hanging off the bed. Just like almost every day since they became mates.

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Parallel universe. Stiles had heard the term before and had found himself researching it multiple times, until he got caught up in thousands of what-ifs that only made his life more and more complicated. Now here he is. In the living embodiment of 'what if'.

"Are you sure this is parallel universe shit? It could be time travel, or maybe alien invasion? Hell, it could more likely be the zombie apocalypse." Stiles was attempting to lighten the mood, instead he got a smack to the back of the head. "Hey!" He yelped, staring at Lydia in horror.

"We aren't in a movie Stiles." She pointed out with a glare. Stiles just glared back.

"Excuse me, you are standing there talking parallel universes, and my zombie apocalypse idea sounds like the plot to a bad sci-fi movie?" Her only answer was a roll of her eyes, but it didn't matter. Stiles just needed to understand… And not let go of his mom.

"Sweetheart, in a world with magic, a lot of lines start to blur." Claudia smiled. She was holding Stiles' hand just as tightly as he was holding hers. Stiles wasn't really sure why though. She had her son every day, not like him, who doesn't even have his mother on holidays.

"But how far do they have to blur until we get into parallel universe hopping territory?" Stiles may or may not also enjoy being a little shit. The topic is up for debate.

Claudia grimaced a bit before speaking. "A lot."

Stiles nodded, having expected as much. "So what happened exactly?"

Around the room people turned to each other and asked the same question into the silence. That was the million dollar jackpot. What had happened to make two different Stiles switch Universes?

Deaton was the one who spoke this time. "We don't know, and until we do, I'm afraid you and our Stiles will have to deal with the situation as it is and carry on like normal." Alan Deaton, ever the optimist.

Stiles looked sideways at the moody Alpha standing by the door before looking to his mom. "To be honest, I may have gotten the better end of the deal for this one."

"Oh that's right, you never told us what your universe was like." Allison pointed out with a smile. Everyone, even the humans had stuffed themselves into Deaton's clinics exam room. It was crowded no doubt, it not annoyingly so. If Stiles was being honest, having so many people there just because they care about you was nice… Even if just looking at Allison's face makes him hurt inside.

He shrugged at her question, not really wanting to talk about it. Not when the room was filled with the people who had suffered losses beyond compare. "No, I didn't." He conceded.

He could feel Lydia's calculating gaze burning holes in his back. Really, she was even more annoying in this universe than his own.

"Back in the woods you seemed surprised to see me." Erica sounded nonchalant now, but Stiles could read through it easily. He bullshits a lot on his way through life, and if there was ever a bigger bullshit for him to call out, it would be Erica's nonchalant attitude. She'd been sitting on one of the counters playing with the hem of her skirt. "Is it because in your universe, I'm no longer a part of the pack?"

Stiles hesitated, he really didn't want to do this, not now, not ever. It was hard enough seeing everyone's faces back when Derek had found Erica's body in the closet of the bank where Boyd and Cora were held away from the full moon. He clearly remembered Derek's face as he carried Erica's body into the loft.

"You're always pack Erica." He answered dodging the question she was really asking. Without meaning to, his eyes went to Derek. The big wolf was already looking at him. The second their eyes met, Stiles looked away.

Erica didn't ask anymore, and neither did anyone else.

"Can I just go home? I think I need to sleep this off." Stiles tilted his chin and scratched at the back of his head. The second the words where out, tension seemed to come back quickly.

Everyone looked around, meeting one another's gazes before as one, they all looked at Stiles. The only pair of eyes Stiles met was his mother. Who looked viably uncomfortable. "Mom?"

"Do you know where you live Stiles?" She asked tightly. And what kind of question was that? Where did he live? With his parents right?

"Okay, if you are my mother you would know that a question like that deserves the strongest, thickest amount of sarcasm I have in my arsenal. So, do you maybe want to ask it in a different way?" He'd give her another chance, just because he didn't want to be rude or sarcastic to a mother he hadn't seen since he was seven.

Claudia nodded with a slight ironic smiles. Instead of asking, she went with informing. Laying down the facts. He liked that.

"You don't live with me and your dad, Genim." She said with a shake of her head. Her eyes flitted over to Derek who instantly looked away. Stiles didn't miss the exchange.

"Mom…" He said again, his voice was now accusatory as he glared from her to Derek. "Where exactly do I live?"

She didn't answer, and neither did Derek. So Cora took the floor.

"Oh my god! Are we just going to all skirt around the poor bastard? This is like watching Game of Thrones and wondering if today is the day your favorite character dies." She huffed and walked right up to Stiles, looking him in the eyes for a long minute like she was judging him. Then she started to speak again in a soft voice. "In this universe, Stiles is Derek's mate. You guys are so close and obvious that we even have a couple name for you, like you used to make fun of in those TV shows. Sterek. So, yeah. You don't live with your parents, since the day you turned eighteen, you moved in with Derek."

Okay. Blunt, and sort of 'rip-the-Band-Aid-off', but Stiles really appreciated someone being straight with him. He was even more impressed that it was Cora. Still, the second she said 'Sterek' he reeled back, like someone just slapped him clear across the face.

All his attention turned to Derek. That was impossible - Derek didn't like him like that. Never has, no matter how many times Stiles attempted to hint or mention or… Okay, so he was trying to be as subtle as possible back then, just to make sure Derek didn't murder him if he was offended by Stiles' little gay crush on him, but this? This was insane. Not only were his feelings returned, but he and Derek were 'meant to be'? What kind of fairy tale world did he walk into, and could he maybe stay here forever?

"You're kidding…" He said lamely. He was still staring at Derek, who clenched his jaw and looked just over his right shoulder to avoid meeting his eyes.

"No. She's really not." Lydia cut in with a roll of her eyes. "Seriously, after Scott and Cora came up with your cutesy little couple name, every couple started getting one. Scallison, Jydia, and don't even get me started on the friendship couple names."

Suddenly everyone was smiling at what had to be a pretty ridiculous memory, only Stiles was left out. For the first time… Okay, maybe not the first, but certainly the most obvious time, he felt like he didn't belong here. With these happy people who hadn't lost each other, or themselves. This is what he could have had. What he would have had, if only he hadn't lost his mother.

Stiles didn't know what to say, so instead he shook his head violently and walked out, bumping into Malia and then Isaac in his haste to escape. Oh geez, there was also Malia. The girl he was actually dating back in the place where he actually belonged.

It was so stupid to think about, but he couldn't keep his thoughts in check as he ran out the clinic door, not paying any mind to the multiple voices calling his name.

This was what it was supposed to be like. What everything was meant to come to, this life with his mother, his father, his friends all alive… With Derek.

No! Shut up! Don't think about that! It was too painful to think about Derek. Mates, mates, mates, he couldn't stop his subconscious repeating the word again and again. He'd read about myths on mates since Scott was bitten - he was a romantic, sue him - so he knew what it meant more or less. Meant to be. But if they were so meant to be, then why weren't they together back in his universe? If it was an instinct thing, then why didn't Derek...?

The sudden thought rocked him. Derek didn't want him. That's it, that's the only answer. Derek didn't want a broken Stiles. Because he was broken, after the Nematon, and especially after the Nogitsune… He was broken beyond repair.

"Stiles..." Scott's voice was weak and worried, and at least that was normal. At least Scott was the same in this universe or in the next. Scott was his constant.

Turning around sharply, he threw his arms around Scott and pulled him into a hug, feeling endlessly grateful that all his best friend did was hug him back, he didn't even speak. This was all too much, too soon. He needed rest, he needed to think about this, it was all so weird…

"Scott, buddy, I'm not coming onto you or anything, but can you take me home? To your house I mean." At least at Scott's, everything was normal. He needed normal.

Scott nodded as they separated and with a careful smile, he went back into the clinic to get Allison's car keys. When he came back, they didn't speak at all as they drove to the familiar sanctuary of the McCall house. Honestly, Stiles didn't think he wanted to see how much happier and healthier his dad was with his mom still alive anyways. It was too much, all of these things that could have been his life if not for one event…

"I feel like I'm too broken to be here right now." Stiles admitted to Scott as they pulled into the driveway. Scott didn't say a word, just looked at him until he continued. "Back in my universe man… Everything was falling apart. People died and… I was possessed and I almost died… And no one was happy." He looked at Scott pleading the other boy to understand. Scott did in a way, because he still didn't say anything. "Man I… It's unfair. It sucks that this could have been my life! My mom! Everyone! Derek!" The tears were coming fast and he buried his head in his hands to hide them, though he knew he couldn't hide anything from Scott.

They sat in the car for a while in silence. Neither wanting to leave the small space that had become theirs.

It was a long time before Scott spoke up.

"The you that belonged here… He was really good at this stuff. You know, figuring out the reasons why–"

Stiles cut him off. "I'm good at that too." He said moodily. Because he was. He was actually a better detective than most of the FBI's goons.

Scott just nodded before he continued. "I think I'd know what he'd say in this situation so I'm just going to say it to you." He paused, looking for confirmation that this was okay. Stiles just sighed before nodding reluctantly. "Chances are, being here can teach you something you wouldn't learn from your universe. Whether it's magic from your mom, or how to enjoy the small things in life from me." Scott grinned and Stiles couldn't help but short. "Being here will fix some of what you believe is wrong with you. So, I'm sorry to say it buddy, but right now you do belong here, with all of us."

Stiles took his hands away from his face and looked at Scott like the werewolf had grown two heads. "When the hell did you become the Yoda in this relationship?"

Scott laughed good-naturedly as he pushed the car door open and stepped out. Stiles smiled as he took a deep breath before joining his best friend on the tread to the front door. Yeah okay, maybe Scott was right, maybe he was here for a reason.

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As Stiles fluttered on the edge of wakefulness, he registered a familiar warmth and strength at his back. He also recognized the thick rod pulsing against his ass and it made him smile. He pushed back into the heat without thinking, loving the groan he got in response as soft lips found the back of his neck. He loved it when Derek paid attention to the back of his neck.

Stiles arched into the contact, forcing Derek to use teeth to keep him in place, just like the wolf his mate really was.

"Mmm… Derek." Stiles groaned, finally opening his eyes.

Instantly he stiffened.

The lips on his neck stopped and the arm around his chest tightened in reaction as Stiles registered that he wasn't in their loft… He was in his room… In his parent's house. He looked over his shoulder to make sure that his bed partner really was Derek, and managed a sigh of relief when he spotted weary looking green/blue eyes.

"Derek, why are we–" He stopped himself as his memories came back to him. That's right… This was not his world. This was not his Derek. "Sorry." He winced as he pulled away from the warmth of Derek's body. Derek let him go willingly, awkwardly making to stand himself.

"Sorry. I... It was–" Derek tried to say, but Stiles just smiled.

"Instinct, I know. It's okay." And even though he said it, he didn't know if it really was. How did he feel about having Derek's erection pressing against him? Most mornings it was something he loved and lived for, but today… This wasn't his Derek. If he got involved with this parallel Derek was it cheating on his?

"Scott said we were having a pack meeting tonight at the loft." Derek said off handedly as he found his socks and shoes. "We need to figure out what got you here and how to get you back home."

Stiles nodded but shuddered at the thought of Scott as Alpha. Maybe someday. Scott had really good instincts and he knew people, but Scott was still so young both in body and in mind. Putting someone so… Scott in a position of power sort of frightened Stiles. Then again, in the beginning the thought of Derek as an Alpha frightened him too but Derek got the hang of it eventually. Maybe that was true for this Scott as well.

"So you did still have the loft." Stiles mumbled with longing. The loft had been his home since the day he turned eighteen. Not that he didn't love his parents, and he saw a lot of them too, but living with Derek was like coming home. It was necessary for the mating bond to be close to his partner. His mother had understood that, and she even helped his father to come to terms with it, back when he had first moved out. In the end, it hadn't mattered much given how often he and Derek were at the Stilinski house.

"Why do you say it like that?" Derek asked from behind him. He was close, Stiles now realized, almost standing flush with his back with each breath fanning over the back of Stiles' neck. God, his neck was sensitive.

In an attempt to keep face, he took a step forward and pivoted around to face Derek. He couldn't get carried away - this wasn't his Derek.

"Say what like what?" He asked with a tentative smile.

Derek's brows were furrowed and he looked as if he didn't know how to feel. Well, that made two of them.

"Like you… I don't know. Like you want it. I thought you never liked the loft."

Stiles couldn't help it, he snorted. "I didn't. Not until you let me remodel it when I moved in. Seriously, when we first got together one of our biggest fights was about that place. It looked like some kind of knock-off bat cave." Stiles looked up and momentarily forgot what he was talking about.

Because Derek was smiling. It was a small one, and it held more sadness than joy, but it was heartfelt and so clearly never done that it looked a little awkward on this Derek. Like he didn't know just how wide to smile, or if he should show teeth. That's when Stiles realized that this Derek probably never smiled.

Without hesitation, Stiles walked over to Derek, looked him straight in the eye, and then leaned up a little to plant a kiss on the rough but accepting lips. His Derek wouldn't mind this. He was giving something to this Derek, a small hope, if not a temporary acceptance, of the emotions this Derek probably went years pushing down. It was so awkward, though, because Derek didn't move. He stayed there stiff and still for long moments, but Stiles had gone through this once before already and he was okay with waiting it out. Soon enough, Derek's lips softened and kissed him back, pressing their mouths firmly together.

It was chaste, no tongue, no open mouth, but when they pulled back Derek's eyes were sparkling, and there was a grin trying to slip past his grief hardened face.

Stiles counted it as a win.

"Alright big guy, come on, let's get to the bat cave and see what we can do until the others arrive. If it is anything like it was, we need a lot of time to work." He opened the window for Derek, before smiling at the surprised wolf and walking out through his bedroom door.

Deep inside he felt the longing like a brand. This was Derek but the connection wasn't there. The years' worth of memories weren't there. He needed to find a way back home.

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Peter was there when they got to the loft and Stiles couldn't help grinning.

"Uncle P!" He exclaimed as he went to give the man a hug. There was also the added bonus of the fact that Peter looked completely taken aback, something Stiles had never seen in his life.

Peter didn't hug him back. Instead the man stood there like statue, not exactly know what the protocol was here. Stiles had guessed before he'd seen Peter, about what kind of person the man would be in this universe. If what everyone said was true and the only pack members left were Derek, Scott, Malia, Kira, Stiles, Lydia, and a kid named Liam, then Stiles was certain Peter never found a way back in. Still, he couldn't help but hug the man who had become some sort of Uncle to him as well.

Back in his universe, Peter had healed under the united efforts of Derek and Cora to pull him into the pack. Often times when Beacon Hills found itself in trouble, Peter would be the one helping Stiles figure out who it was and what to do about it. They had gotten rather close while spending long nights arguing about what plan of action would better benefit the pack. He wasn't surprised that this wasn't so for this universe's Stiles and Peter. After all, Cora had left, and without her Derek wouldn't have been able to heal Peter.

When he pulled back, both Hale men were looking at him like they feared for his sanity. It didn't matter. During the drive to the loft (in his Jeep, because while they usually took Derek's Camaro everywhere back in his world, Derek had not even driven the Camaro, he had in fact ran all the way to Stiles' house like a creeper. Stiles decided not to mention it. This wasn't his world after all, and this wasn't his Derek who was adored by his mother and bonded with his father over baseball.) he had decided that while he was here, he was going to better this pack. Maybe not fix, they could never be fully fixed, but he would try his best to keep the cheer while he was here. Because no matter what happened his stay here would be temporary. He had faith in his Mom and Derek's inability to survive without him.

"I don't know if you heard Uncle P, but I'm Other-Universe-Stiles and I come in peace." Stiles held his left hand up, his middle and forefinger connected to one side while his ring and pinky finger connected in the other.

Peter actually had to take some time to answer him, something that made Stiles grin because he'd never been able to induce that reaction in Peter in his life.

"Yes… Well." The man said as he slowly started to smirk. "You certainly are nothing like the human boy we all believed you were."

Stiles grinned back. Of course Peter would smell the magic in him too, what else had he been expecting? "Nope, 'fraid not. Don't be disappointed though. Back where I'm from, you and I become really close family."

Peter's eyes widen before he turns them to Derek. Stiles couldn't stop smiling and shaking his head as he watched the two Hales men sharing a conversation in complete silence. This was something that occurred very often back in his world.

When the conversation had seemed to run its course, Peter turned back to Stiles with that same smirk. "So it appears Derek could have been smarter. I take it your Derek shared with you the joys of mating bonds?"

The grin he had on dimmed to a soft smile as he nodded. "Long time ago actually, during the Kanima attacks." Stiles admitted before turning to Derek. "Mom pushed me into pursuing my crush on Derek and when it was returned we just…" He shrugged his shoulders and focussed back on Peter. "Not the point Uncle P. We kinda need your help to figure out how to get me back where I belong."

Peter assessed him for a minute, looking from him to an emotionally constipated looking Derek, then back to him before shaking his head. "No, I quite like you. I'm not a very big fan of the other one, there is so much hiding one can do behind wit and sarcasm."

Derek growled at Peter as he spoke badly about this universe's Stiles, while Stiles himself dropped his grin completely. He hadn't been sure what kind of differences this Peter would have to his Peter, but now he sort of recognized it. This Peter hadn't healed in any way since coming back from the dead. He had just gotten worse, more jaded, selfish… Power hungry. Stupidly he recalled a conversation he once had with his Peter where the man admitted to planning on murdering his own nephew like he'd murdered his niece for the power of an Alpha. Only in this universe, the Alpha was Scott.

Stiles shivered unconsciously. This Peter radiated deceit and betrayal. How had he not felt it earlier? He freaking hugged the guy. Ugh.

"This is serious Peter." Derek growled even going as far as to bare his teeth. Stiles unconsciously laid a hand on Derek's elbow, silently supporting him. It was something he did so often, especially with Derek as Alpha, that he only noticed he'd done it when he caught Peter watching with a sly crinkle in his eyes. Derek had noticed too, and almost as if he was working on instinct, his hand rose to grab the back of Stiles' neck. An Alpha gesture.

Stiles pulled away instantly, trying to play it off like the move didn't burn him.

"Okay, well, everyone is going to be here in two hours and this place looks terrible. So, I'm going to at least organize. Okay, yeah. Bye." He took off up the spiral stairs to the top floor where Derek's bedroom was. He knew just how to get there and when he was through the doors, he curled in on himself. That gesture Derek made had Stiles craving and longing for the power his Derek always exuded even while just standing there. His magic had grown so used to that power, but it wasn't there with this Derek. Shoving it in his face every time Derek touched him that this wasn't his Derek. This is seriously getting old.

"Oh god mom… Please help me. I want to come home…"

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When awareness kicked in, Stiles bolted up like a jack-in-the-box, startling the shit out of Scott, who had been lying in bed texting.

"Holy shit, Stiles!" Scott reprimanded, glaring at Stiles. "I didn't even hear you wake up, God damn." It was true, there was no gradual waking, there hadn't been since the Nogitsune possessed him. But this Scott didn't know that.

"Sorry, sorry." Stiles mumbled, looking around the room from his spot on the floor. Everything looked the same as the room his own Scott kept. The only difference that Stiles could see was the pictures surrounding them. Some pictures he actually recognized, but some… They had people together who hadn't even met before. Or people who had no longer been alive at the time to take the picture. One specific photo caught his eye and he stretched to reach it, not willing to get up just yet.

He was reaching for it for a good half a minute until Scott pushed the frame towards him. Once in his hands, he grunted in thanks and examined the photograph. It was one for Allison's 19th birthday. She stood in the middle, one of her dimply smiles on her face as the pack surrounded her, making kissy faces at her. To each side was Scott and Lydia, Jackson just behind Lydia's shoulder while Boyd stood next to Lydia, facing Allison. Rarely had he even seen Boyd smile, let alone make a kissy face. It was so surreal. Erica was on Boyd's back, her lips pressed to his cheek instead. Malia was behind Jackson, her face shinning with more light than Stiles had ever seen in his own universe. And they weren't even dating in this world. Next to Scott was Stiles himself, except different. Instantly Stiles could recognize why. There were no bags under the brown eyes he recognized as his own. No weariness or haunted fear. And just behind Stiles was Derek, arms wrapped around his waist and puckered lips right next to his ear. Just in front of Stiles and Derek was Cora, most likely on her knees as she exaggerated the kissy face until she looked like a duck. Behind Allison's shoulder probably standing next to Stiles was Isaac who was having trouble making the kissy face with his smile threatening to replace it. The twins took the bottom corner of each side of the photo, their identical faces giving the picture an awkward sort of symmetry.

"Hey Scott man, do you think I can keep this?" Stiles waved the picture in the air in front of Scott's face. He didn't fully get his best friend's attention until the text he was sending was finished, but when Scott looked up to see what Stiles wanted to keep, the peaceful face turned horrified.

"No way dude! Stiles that's my favorite picture! Everyone in the group has one, yours is in your room." Scott snatched the picture away and cradled it to his chest while staring at Stiles like he was crazy. Stiles rolled his eyes but nodded. Yeah, he'd get the picture from his house. He wanted it, wanted the pack like that. There was so much happiness and camaraderie in one photo that Stiles found himself yearning for it. Or something similar.

"Yeah okay." Stiles pulled himself up using the edge of Scott's bed before stretching to pop his stiff joints. He hated sleeping on the floor, but he couldn't share the bed with Scott anymore, not since they had both grown too big for it. "I'm gonna walk home. I want to talk to my…" He had to stop when he almost chocked over her name. "Mom…" Oh, God that's right, his mom was alive. What the hell was he doing at Scott's when his mother was alive and well, and probably waiting at home for him?

Scott nodded, as if he understood. "I got you man, go ahead. You can take my bike if you want."

Stiles shook his head. "Nah, a walk will do me good. See ya later, alright buddy?" He went to give Scott a bro-hug, but before he could completely pull away Scott grabbed his arm.

"Derek called for a pack meeting tonight at the loft. Your folks are invited too okay, just let them know. Your mom, especially, has been pack for a long time."

Stiles nodded, not trusting himself to talk as Scott allowed him to pull back and leave the room.

He saw Mama McCall in the kitchen and she smiled at him when she saw him. "Hey Stiles, this is a nice surprise. You usually don't stay over here anymore." She went to him and pulled him into a hug, before holding him at arm's length and assessing him. "You look kinda sick - are you okay?"

Stiles wanted to laugh. Of course Melissa McCall, nurse extraordinaire, would be the one to notice the difference between him and the Stiles that belonged here.

"I'm fine Ms. McCall." Stiles said with a genuine smile. He always liked her. In fact, he'd been hoping she and his dad would someday find each other compatible and get it going, but it hadn't happened yet.

Melissa looked at him oddly for a second before nodding. "It's been a while since you called me that." She said to herself as she went back into the kitchen. "Do you know if Peter's coming back today? Out of everyone, you're actually the closest to him."

Stiles had been on his way to the door until he heard her words. His stomach plummeted and he whirled on her with wide eyes.

"What?!" He was sure his voice was just a little louder than necessary because next thing they knew, Scott was rushing down the stairs shirtless, red flannel pajamas hanging low on his hips.

"Peter'll be back in town next week mom." Scott answered hurriedly, as he grabbed Stiles' shoulder and began dragging him back up the stairs. Stiles was so shocked that he didn't even protest.

Once they were back in Scott's room Stiles started speaking before the door was even closed.

"What the hell was that?! Why was your mom asking about Peter?! Peter 'let-me-rip-your-throat-out' Hale Scott!" Now things were just getting disturbing. Weird. Strange. Beyond what Stiles could handle. Maybe.

"Stiles, Peter isn't what I'm sure you think he is anymore. He's part of the pack, he works as a business consultant, and he is completely sane." Scott was looking just as wide eyed as Stiles was while he tried to explain. Stiles was just about done with this reality.

He violently shook his head. "Fuck it. I'm done caring. This shit is too much for me. See you at the pack meeting, Scott."

Stiles walked away without another word. When he left the house he barely even managed a goodbye to Mama McCall.

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"Dad! I'm home!" Stiles voice rung out as he keyed the door open. This was the usual for him. On the walk home he'd managed to convince himself to just go along with the flow of shit, and hope he could get back to his own universe before he got used to life here, but it was hard to break habit.

When he saw his mom in the kitchen making breakfast, he went to her and wrapped her up in a tight hug, burying his nose in her hair and enjoying her laugh in his ears. His mother was here. Alive and tangible. Stiles could almost hear the healing in his soul at just having her here. At just seeing her again.

Standing there with her in the middle of the kitchen, he promised himself he would take advantage of her presence until the minute he left.

"Good morning Genim." Claudia smiled, holding her baby close. She was a smart lady; Stiles knew that she saw the bags under his eyes, the haunted look he had about himself that he honestly didn't know how to shake. He was sure she could see everything but she played it off, slowly warming him from the inside by just being his mother. God, he'd missed her so much.

Stiles didn't hear his dad coming until he was standing in the kitchen as well, looking in on the intimate scene with a smile.

He couldn't help smiling back. "Hi Dad." And just that, just seeing his dad, he was filled with contentment. The man had been with him through thick and thin. They'd been each other's anchors when Claudia had died. Stiles loved his dad as fiercely as he'd missed his mom.

"Hey, son." John greeted as he slid past them to grab a mug and pour himself some coffee.

Stiles slowly released his mother and stepped back, looking from one parent to the other in wonderment. This was his family. Whole and together. For some reason he didn't feel so haunted as he stood here with them.

His dad just had to ruin it.

"So where's Derek? I haven't seen him in two days, and that's unusual for you two." John asked as he sipped his coffee.

Stiles gaped at him. He didn't know what to say to that. So John Stilinski knew that his son was dating– had been dating Derek Hale? Prime suspect of the murder investigation of his own sister?

Claudia saw her son's face and decided to help out.

"Derek's setting up for the pack get together this afternoon. Every Friday, remember?" She smiled, but Stiles could tell it was strained, especially with her eyes flying to him every third second. John just looked between his wife and his son with an unimpressed expression that Stiles was very familiar with.

"Okay, well, whatever you two aren't telling me, I don't want to know. I'll be taking my coffee elsewhere." John stated before moving to leave the room. He clapped Stiles on the shoulder before he was gone into the living room.

Once he was out of sight, Stiles rounded on his mom. "Dad knows about… The other Stiles and Derek?!" He didn't know how else to say it. 'Me and Derek' sounded… Pathetic, especially since he had spent a lot of his sophomore year wishing for it so badly.

Claudia gave her son a look that all mothers have. It meant 'don't be stupid boy', 'get your head out of your ass', 'don't play dumb', and 'really? Really?', all at the same time. Stiles wasn't immune to it.

"Of course he knows." Claudia scolded. "You two were hardly subtle when you started dating. John knows about werewolves and mates, but we always try to keep him as far away from danger as we can. He's not like us Genim, John is human and he can die so much easier than we can." She looked sick even saying those words, and Stiles was right there with her. But still, he couldn't get the thought out of his head. It was so tempting.

Stiles nodded his head, and moved a little closer so they could speak more quietly. "So he doesn't know that I'm not–"

A sharp glare stopped him in his tracks. "Don't you dare, Genim." Claudia threatened. "You are his son, whether you are from a different dimension or from another world. You will always be our boy. Just like you will always be Derek's mate." She stated it firmly, but Stiles really could have done without the last part.

"No I won't mom, Derek never said anything. Never spoke up. He obviously denied me as a–" but again he was cut off.

"Genim, do you know what you had to do to get Derek to admit his feelings for you?" She was asking the question rhetorically, of course, because Stiles didn't actually have those memories. So he waited for her to continue. "You went right up to him, told him he would look amazing with you on his arm and kissed him."

Stiles had to laugh at that. He could almost picture the reaction he'd get if he told his own Derek that. The werewolf would toss him out of his loft's front window.

Claudia obviously caught the thought because she softened and laid a hand on Stiles' cheek. It was such a motherly gesture that Stiles melted into the attention. Again, he was struck with the thought that this was his mother here in front of him. His dead mother…

"Genim… Stiles. You are attractive and smart and kind and you deserve to be happy, not just content with life. You deserve to be with your mate. He is the only thing that will truly make you happy. That's the way the mating bond works." She was smiling so softly that it looked fragile. She looked fragile. Like the smallest action would break her, and he would lose her all over again.

So instead of arguing like he wanted to, he smiled and nodded, hugging her to him again.

"Honey." John's voice called from the living room. "Your eggs are burning."

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Everyone surprisingly arrived together. Which was weird for Stiles. Usually everyone started coming in little clusters, mostly in couples, but this time everyone had gotten there at the same time. When Stiles opened the door he couldn't help looking around for the rest of his pack, only to realize that the rest wouldn't be showing up.

"Hey guys." He smiled. Scott and Kira smiled back while Liam and Lydia just waved. Malia glared at him, making him strangely nervous and uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here Stiles? We went to your house but our jeep was gone." There was no underlining message when Scott asked the question, but in the way Malia's glare slid from him to over his shoulder, he was sure she read all of the undertones.

"Got up early." Stiles shrugged, going for uninterested. He wasn't sure he succeeded. When he let them all in, everyone looked around the place as if they never seen it before.

"Oh, my God, the place is actually clean." Lydia marveled. Stiles wanted to beam at her, but Malia's glare kept him in check. Apparently the Stiles from this universe had been dating her… Why? Not that there was anything wrong with Malia, in fact, she had a lot of the qualities Stiles loved about Derek, but she wasn't his mate, he would never truly be happy with her. His magic never let him forget that with the way it lashed out when he spent too long away from Derek. The only thing keeping it from doing the same thing now was the fact that Derek was here, just not the right Derek.

"Alright, can we get to the point here?" Stiles asked, as everyone gathered on the couches and chairs clustered together in in front of the big front window. Derek and Peter were there already, talking in low tones together.

"So does anyone have any idea how we are going to get me home?"

He knew he was being awfully optimistic to hope that anyone of them would have even an idea, but he had to ask the question either way. When no one answered, he nodded in disappointment and sighed. "Yeah, kinda expected that one."

"How'd you even get here in the first place?" The boy Stiles didn't know, Liam, asked with a raised eyebrow.

Stiles struggled to think back to what he was doing when he'd first arrived in this universe.

Back in his own, he'd been protecting Derek and himself from the attack of the hunters after being caught in the woods looking for the druid that had been taking the blood of every super natural creature in Beacon hills. They hadn't known what the druid had planned to do, but they knew it wasn't going to be anything good. Their plan hadn't actually been to kill the druid, but that was the result and now they didn't have anyone to question.

"It doesn't matter how he got here." Lydia said. "He won't be able to get back if he doesn't have a totem. Dimensions are separate time lines that branch off each other. There are millions of them, if the theory is to be believed. He won't be able to return to his own if he doesn't have anything from that specific dimension to act as a totem."

"Can't we just use him? He's from that dimension." Kira pointed out. Stiles smiled at her. She was always smart, but when it came to the supernatural, she had some really good ideas. Lydia shut her down fast though.

"Stiles will be the one casting whatever spells and things that would get him back. He can't use himself if he's the one working the magic."

It made sense, but with that thought in mind, it only gave Stiles one option… Trust his mother.

"My mother has something from this dimension…" Stiles suggested softly. "She could cast the spells we need to get me home."

"What does your mother have?" Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Derek was the one to answer that question. "She has our Stiles."

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To be completely truthful, Stiles didn't expect this many people. Eighteen people milled around the loft like they belonged there, talking among themselves. Stiles was even able to see Deputy Parrish amongst the hoard of the pack.

Stiles stuck close to Scott and Allison, not really feeling comfortable in the crowd, even though he knew all of them. Malia, Kira, Erica, Allison, Aiden, Ethan, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson, Scott, Chris, Claudia, Melissa, Lydia, Parrish, Danny, and even Deaton mingled among the crowd. In fact, he only knew Deaton was there because he'd stopped Stiles in order to speak to him.

"Hello Mr. Stilinski, did Claudia inform you of our findings?" The vet looked pleased, and Stiles felt his heart fill with both relief and dread at the prospect.

"No, what did you guys find out?" Stiles sipped at the Sprite Scott had handed him from the fridge.

"We've figured out a way to get you back to your own universe, tonight." Deaton smiled, as if he didn't see the affect the words had on Stiles.

It's too soon. I didn't get enough time, I did… It's too soon to just leave, everyone is… But he couldn't argue. So Deaton kept talking for him.

"If there is anyone you wish to say goodbye to, then I suggest you do it tonight, Mr. Stilinski." Stiles didn't miss the way Deaton's eyes flicked up to the second level of the loft, before he smiled one of his mysterious smiles and disappeared into the crowd.

That's when he noticed that Derek wasn't anywhere among the crowd. He allowed his eyes to flick up to the second floor of the loft just for a second, before someone else caught his attention.

"Hey, Lyds." Stiles said with fleeting interest. His mind was still on the implications of Deaton's words.

She gave him a tight lipped smile before pulling him into a hug that shocked Stiles out of his own thoughts.

"Just being near you makes me want to scream Stiles. I don't know what happened, but I know that not all of us survived it." Lydia whispered into his ear, took a deep, calming breath and stepped back. "Claudia said she found the spell to get you back to your own universe. She probably didn't tell you, but I think you should have the chance to say goodbye to people." She spoke lightly, but Stiles knew what she meant. Say goodbye to the people that are dead.

He nodded before pulling her into another hug, squeezing her to him with force he didn't even know he had. He whispered his thanks into her ear and smiled when she kissed his cheek.

When she disappeared, Stiles looked around for the people he wanted to talk to.

The first one he spotted was Boyd. As he made his way to the big wolf, he also spotted Erica sitting on his lap, talking a mile a minute.

His approach didn't go unnoticed by either wolf, and by the time he reached them, they had both stood up. The three of them didn't speak for a long moment, just stared at each other. When Erica moved, not even Boyd saw her.

In the blink of an eye her body was pressed against Stiles' and he had trouble breathing, but he just hugged her back harder.

"I don't know what happened to me that you won't get to see me again, but I want you to know that I have and always will consider you part of my pack. Okay?" She admitted softly. Stiles could only nod into his shoulders, not sure if he could even speak.

When she pulled back, he was instantly engulfed in a manly bro-hug from Boyd. "Take care of yourself." The big man said. "Take care of the ones who are left."

Stiles nodded again. Muttering a soft promise before he backed away and when looking for the rest. He literally ran into Danny who had turned his head around to talk to Jackson, only to be knocked back into his friend by Stiles.

"Whoa Stiles." Danny smiled, holding onto his arms for balance.

"Sorry." Stiles chocked out, almost sobbing but managing to hold it back.

Danny's concern came straight from his eyes. "What's wrong Stiles?"

Stiles just shook his head quickly and flashed a grin that was just a bit too big. "Nothing just talking to some old friends."

Danny just nodded even if he didn't understand.

Before Stiles could stop himself, he pulled Danny into a half-hug, letting him go just as quickly. "I missed you, buddy." Stiles muttered. He left before Danny asked any question or Jackson got a word in edgewise. He didn't want to say goodbye to Jackson, but Danny had actually turned into a friend before the other human moved away after Aiden's death.

He found the twins next, because Ethan had been watching his exchange with Danny.

"What's up Stiles?" Ethan asked with barely hidden jealousy. So they still weren't exactly a couple here yet. Or maybe they'd just broken up. Whatever. It didn't matter. He'd be gone in a couple hours anyways.

"Nothing man, just saying goodbye. Mom found a way to get me back home." He admitted as he looked from one twin to the next. He still remembered what he had done to Aiden. The sword through the stomach and the wolf's mouth filled with black blood. "I'm sorry, Aiden." He said sincerely. "I'm sorry, Ethan." He hugged them both and left them behind in a dust of confusion. That was fine. These quick goodbyes were fine. He was getting to say the things that he didn't before. Getting to apologize for his part in their demise.

Isaac actually found him, instead of the other way around. The taller boy tapped him in the shoulder and when he turned around he was hugging the wolf tightly. Stiles wanted to laugh but he felt the tears fall before he could stop them.

"I was abused by my father, so I know what haunted people look like. I'm sorry for whatever happened to you, Stiles. Please take care of yourself." Isaac looked him in the eye once, and then was gone. Just like that. Stiles chocked a bit before he managed to take a deep breath.

He went in search of Allison next.

He found her by the spiral stairs, standing beside Scott who was sitting on the third step.

"Hey guys." He greeted with a brave attempt a fake cheer. They both smiled at him before Scott stood to pull into into a full hug like Isaac had done not too long ago.

"Hey man! I heard your mom found a way for you to go back. Isn't that great?" Scott sounded excited, and though Stiles knew it was for him, because he was going back to where he belonged, he couldn't help but feel that Scott would be glad to have his own Stiles back. Allison must have seen what he was hiding in his face, because she smiled at Scott and asked him if he would get her something from the fridge. Scott agreed without hesitation and threw another smile at Stiles before he was out of sight.

They stood there for a second, silent and waiting as Stiles collected himself enough for this.

"I'm sorry." Stiles managed, although his voice did break.

Her eyes were understanding, but he doubted that he could really understand how much weight his words held. She held out her arms for him, and he sobbed as he crushed her to him. They didn't let go of each other until Scott came back with Allison's soda, at which point Stiles must have whispered 'I'm sorry' about a hundred times.

He turned to Scott and said one final apology, before he turned on his heel and bolted up the spiral stairs.

Stiles was at Derek's door before he even registered that he had moved. Still, it didn't matter. When Derek opened the door, Stiles was ready.

In a clumsy but valiant attempt at romance, he threw his arms around Derek's neck and crashed their lips together.

It was painful at first, he didn't really know what he was doing and Derek's beard was irritating his skin, but once Derek's hands came up to cradle the back of his head… It got amazing. Derek forced his control on Stiles and slowed the kiss, softening what had originally been brutal determination. Stiles was flying. His body felt light, and his heart was thumping with the joy of finally having something he'd spent so long craving.

The kiss was too short for Stiles, so when Derek started easing away, Stiles surged forward stealing one, two, three kisses, before he allowed Derek to push him back.

Derek's face was eased, not as brooding or hard as it had been in both his universe and after he'd punched the wolf.

"What was that for?" Derek asked with a slight smile. Stiles couldn't help smiling back.

"Taking courage, so that I can do that when I'm back where I belong." Stiles admitted. The words he's mom had told him that morning echoing in his head. You deserve to be happy, not just content with life as it is.

"Okay then." Derek whispered against Stiles' lips as he leaned down for a few more chaste kisses.

"Stiles. Derek." Claudia's voice dragged Stiles away from Derek and toward the stairs, where she stood smiling. She held a photo in her hand and Stiles didn't even need to guess to know what picture it was. It was the same one that had been on Scott's bedside table. The one of Allison's 19th birthday. "It's time to go home my Genim."

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"I need to be exactly where he would be." Stiles muttered to himself, not even caring if the werewolves all around him could hear him.

"What do you mean?" Malia asked gruffly, sitting by the stairs with her arms crossed over his knees. She looked hurt and mad, but Stiles knew she would be okay. Well, he hoped so anyways.

"I need to be exactly where he would be. For us to switch back into our own universes, the rip will happen wherever the other Stiles is standing and I need to be there to cross over when he does." He remembered skimming his mother's spell books looking for invisibility and finding parallel worlds. He hadn't read it in depth, but he had skimmed it, so he remembered it in fragments. "When it opens, it won't be open for long."

"Where would your mom normally perform magic?" Kira asked from her seat on Scott's lap in the overstuffed Papa's chair.

"She wouldn't do it in any ritualistic way. She'd do it where she'd know I would go." Instantly, he knew exactly where his mother would choose to do the spell.

His eyes looked over to Derek. "Hey big guy, you think I could go into your room?" He honestly didn't want to ask. He didn't want to have to ask. Back home that room had been theirs for months now, but this wasn't his world. He had to keep reminding himself of that every minute, even if the evidence was clear just by looking around.

Malia's growl was so loud that everyone heard it. She was up and out the loft's door before anyone could even speak. Looked like she didn't want to stick around, watching Stiles and Derek look at each other. Stiles felt the intense need to apologize for leading her on, but he held himself back. He wasn't the one who had lead her on, after all. Even when they met he had already belonged to Derek.

Derek didn't say a word as he stood and lead the way to his room. No one else really felt the need to say anything, either, as they watched the two climb the stairs.

Once they were out of view, Derek turned abruptly to halt Stiles' progress. With a controlled aggression that Stiles didn't even know this Derek had, the big wolf took hold of the back of his neck and pulled him into a bruising kiss. Stiles' yelp was completely involuntary as he was basically swallowed whole.

Derek nipped at his lips, and explored with a wicked tongue that had Stiles panting against his mouth in seconds. This was the Derek he was used to, the Derek who needed and took and never apologized for it. This was the Derek he loved.

Stiles tried to give as good as he got, but the angle at which Derek held his head didn't allow him much leverage, so he allowed the bigger man to ravish him until he was satisfied. This long and brutal kiss would be at the top of his list of favorites that was for sure.

When Derek pulled away, he let his forehead rest against Stiles, panting in rhythm with the Fae's.

"I don't know if I will ever get the chance to…" Derek tried to explain, but Stiles stopped him with a soft kiss.

"You will." Stiles assured Derek, with more conviction than he truly felt. His mom had been the one to push Stiles to act on his crush - maybe she could do that again for the other Stiles.

Derek didn't question or respond, he just nodded as he pulled away and stood there, looking over Stiles' shoulder to the large front window that Stiles loved.

"I love you, Derek." Stiles whispered. Just to make sure that at least once in his life, this Derek would hear those words.

Derek didn't react, but Stiles was sure that he had heard.

Stiles took a deep breath, and then moved past Derek and into the room that was supposed to belong to them.

When he opened the door, he came face to face with himself.

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The two Stiles didn't speak for a long moment. Both of them surveying the other with a critical eye. Ironically they both looked equally disheveled. Fae!Stiles smiled wide as he took in Broken!Stiles' appearance.

"You get along with Derek well enough?" Fae!Stiles asked with a laugh. Broken!Stiles flushed a bit before smirking at himself.

"Looks like you did too. But I shouldn't be surprised right?"

Fae!Stiles grinned. "No. No you shouldn't be." He walked into the room further, shutting the door behind him as Broken!Stiles matched him step for step. "Did you get to say all you wanted to?"

Broken!Stiles hesitated before looking up with determination. "Yeah. I did."

Fae!Stiles felt the surge of relief like a wave as it washed through his system. "Good." He said. "So this whole thing wasn't for nothing."

Broken!Stiles looked straight into his own eyes. Eyes he recognized but that were words apart from his own. "No. It wasn't for nothing." He agreed.

They kept walking forward until they had passed each other. At the same time they both looked over their shoulder.

"Thanks for the picture by the way. It'll serve as a great reminder." Broken!Stiles smiled as he held his hand up, a photo clenched in his finger.

Fae!Stiles started enough to fully turn around. "What?! No! You can't keep that! That's my most–" but he never got to finish his sentence as he was sucked through the hole connecting this universe to his own.

"Bye bye Stiles." Genim said with a light smile.

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Stiles opened the bedroom door softly, looking one way and then the other, and saw Derek standing stock-still, starting out of the far window.

He couldn't describe what came over him in words, but before he could get control of his own body, he was running down the hall towards Derek's back.

Derek turned around just in time to catch him, but the force at which their lips met drew blood. It didn't matter. He was home. Broken as it was, this was where he belonged, and this was his Derek.

When Stiles pulled back Derek could only stare in bewilderment. In the next second his fist connected to Derek's jaw.

"How dare you not tell me we're mates?!"

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Stiles stumbled a bit as the ground suddenly came back under him, but as he failed at keeping his balance strong arms wrapped around his waist, and pulled him back into the planes of a hard chest so familiar he ached with the need to return the embrace.

"Derek!" He cried out, almost a sob but without tears.

Derek merely turned him around in his arms, and pressed their lips together.

"Welcome home, my full moon."


	2. Not The Roads We Follow

**Not The Roads We Follow  
Epilogue to: Not The Roads We Know**

_**Broken!Stiles**_

The second Stiles started his decent down the spiral stairs, he felt the eyes of his friends on him. He didn't know how much they knew about the universe he'd been in, but he could see by the looks on their faces that he still carried the scent of those they had lost.

Scott was the first to surge forward, completely ignoring Derek who took a step back as Scott lunged at Stiles. He was wrapped in the young Alpha's arms in seconds, Scott's nose buried in his shoulder where Allison had laid her head as they hugged not even an hour ago. Stiles didn't' care, he allowed Scott to have this, the comfort of the scent of his first love. He knew Scott was crying even before his friends shoulders started so shake.

No one said anything as they watched their Alpha brake down, but Stiles wasn't worried about them. Scott's hug was bruising and painful and still he couldn't bring himself to complain.

"Allison…" Scott moaned a little around the name. He knew that Scott missed her. Even with Kira there, no one really forgets their first love.

Stiles looked up at that thought, not having to search very hard to find Lydia's eyes staring at his. She looked like he was about to fly apart herself.

Unwrapping an arm from around his best friend's shoulder, Stiles held out the picture to her, hoping that even through the tears and pain, it would make her smile. Her long strides took her to his side in seconds and then the picture of Allison's 19th birthday party was ripped from his hands.

He allowed himself to watch the emotions cross her face as she analyzed the picture. First was the smile, a reaction of happiness to seeing all of her friend's content with their lives…but then came the tears.

Lydia tried to blink through them so that she could keep her eyes on the picture but soon the tears were falling too fast. Her other hand came to her mouth as if to keep her scream inside. She crumpled in on herself, falling to the ground and hiding her face as her sobs became too loud to ignore. Instantly Kira was at her side, a hesitant arm around Lydia's shoulders.

Scott released Stiles and all but yanked the picture from Lydia's hand, not that the emotionally broken banshee even noticed.

The reactions couldn't have been more different. While Lydia had smiled at first, Scott just got angry. The howl that echoed the walls was probably audible around the whole county, but Scott couldn't stop. Only he did stop. On his third howl in, just like Lydia, he crumpled to the floor on his knees, his hands clenching at his hair as the howls turned to human screams.

Stiles watched all of this with a heavy heart. The two of them needed this, Stiles had realized this at some point while he'd been hugging Allison in the other universe. Scott and Lydia had cried, but they hadn't allowed themselves to grieve, not really and not publicly. They needed to do this, to tear everything down, if they ever hoped to rebuild something stable. He'd come to his own peace in his mother's arms, now it was their turn.

Slowly, he turned to Derek who was shedding his own tears in silence. He'd smelled it too without a doubt. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac. Stiles had hugged all three and he was sure that Derek could pick their scents out like the most well trained police dog.

Not really giving himself the chance to think about it, he walked up to Derek and leaned his body against the stronger, bigger one of his mates. He couldn't and wouldn't ever feel the bond like Derek, but he felt the buzzing of magic between them, and for him it was enough for now. He didn't even have to wait very long for Derek's arms to come around him and for the large wolf to bury his nose against Stiles' temple, smelling his hair and the lingering scents of a pack that they had lost a long time ago.

Slowly and tentatively, Liam made his way to Scott, kneeling down to put a hand on his Alpha's shoulder.

No one moved or spoke as they let the room quickly fill with the sounds and smells of sadness, grief, pain, and anger.

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"How was she?"

Scott's face was a billboard advertising how tired he was, but then again so was everyone else's. Still, they all managed to migrate to the couches and sit down together, just feeling each other there for a long while. It took a long time before anyone was comfortable enough to break the silence, but apparently, Scott was going to be okay.

Stiles smiled a little sadly, sitting next to Derek and leaning his head against the wolf's big shoulder as Derek's arm draped around the back of the couch. He was so worn out that he'd relaxed into this possession even if this thing between him and Derek was still so very knew and unusual for him.

"She was…" He had to pause because he honestly didn't know how to put it. He didn't know the words that would help him explain exactly what the other universe had been like when all he'd known was this one. This horrible and sad one. "She was happy Scott." God it sounded lame. So Stiles scrambled to continue. "You and…You and Allison were still together you know. The group had a name for you guys, like a couple name."

"Scallison." Scott whispered with a small smile. Stiles didn't know how Kira felt about Allison, but he saw her sympathetic sadness clearly as she laid a hand on Scott's arm. Scott didn't push her away, just leaned back on the sofa and drew himself a little closer to the Kitsune.

"Yeah." Stiles smiled too, eyes flicking minutely to Lydia who was still silently staring at the photo with near lifeless eyes.

"So was she the only one?"

They both knew she wasn't, but Scott asked it lightly all the same. It was a request. An inquiry of everyone else's mental state. If anyone didn't want to hear, they could speak up now. Only, no one did. So Stiles decided to tell them everything.

He started with Derek in the woods in front of the Hale House ashes. He talked about what it was like seeing Erica standing there. Scott and Kira and even Liam laughed as he went on to Boyd and Allison, not skipping over any of his snarky back talk. When he got to the punch on Derek's face, Stiles wasn't above smirking sideways at Derek who rolled his eyes and rubbed his jaw. It had the added bonus of finally grabbing Lydia's attention.

He told them about Aiden and Ethan, about Isaac and having to drive to the clinic in the Camaro with Derek. He made sure to comment on the hoodie on the floor of the passenger's seat and the radio station making Derek grin and everyone snicker. When he got to his mom, his voice went soft as he described her. He used as many details as he could and everyone let him, listening intently with a small smile that made Stiles smile too despite never being able to see her again.

Stiles went on to talk about the freak out he had, then his little moment with Scott in the car, and then to the morning talk with the McCalls about Peter Hale. Stiles knew that Peter was lurking around the loft somewhere, listening in. He went into details, mostly made up since no one actually talked much about the other Peter, in the hopes that the creep werewolf would hear it and feel incline to better himself. He knew Derek knew what he was doing the moment Derek frowned and glared at him, though never pulling away.

From there he talked about the pack meeting. He stumbled a bit over the recounting of his farewells, and everyone seemed to have shed at least one tear by the time he got to his mother casting the spell.

When his tail was told, everyone lapsed back into the chilling quiet. They were all replaying the story they had been told in their heads, focusing on the people that mattered to them. When Scott's phone started to ring, the tension that had surrounded them all seemed to have been broken.

Scott stood and answered his mother, who kept asking when he would be home. The young Alpha even took a moment to smile at Kira and squeeze her hand before he went further into the loft to have some privacy.

Stiles sighed as he pushed himself to stand too. He looked down at Derek for a long moment, who stared back up at him with a question in his eyes that Stiles could read clearly because he was thinking the very same thing. '_What now?_'

"We need to talk." Stiles decided. Derek only nodded. "Come over tomorrow?" Again Derek nodded, so Stiles grinned and nodded back. He leaned down to kiss Derek's lips one last time, much to the amusement of Kira and the disgust of Lydia and the chagrin of Liam. "Come on guys, I'll take us all home." Stiles said just as Scott re-entered the room.

"Awesome!" Scott called as he made a b-line for Kira. "'Cause my mom just said that if I'm not home in ten minutes I'm grounded."

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Fae!Stiles**_

His mom didn't stick around other than giving him a peck on the cheek and a big hug, telling him he did good and a very Deaton-Level-Cryptic way.

The second she was gone, Derek was on him, dragging Stiles back onto their bed with minimal protest.

Stiles chuckled and laughed as Derek all but ripped at his clothes.

"Derek! Derek we have a room full of people downstairs!" Stiles tried to argue through his grin. "Don't try to tell me we don't, I know what day it is. Friday is Pack Night Derek!"

There was a pitiful, gutted moan from Derek as he stopped the teeth, lips, and tongue assault he had been launching on Stiles' neck. A move that so very nearly had Stiles giving in. But to be honest, he needed to see his friends. He needed to see Scott with Allison, and Erica and Boyd together, and the twins arguing about who would win against who in a fair no-werewolf-powers fight, and Danny's personal rays of freakin' sunshine, and Isaac and Cora talking and flirting with each other but never doing anything, and Jackson and Lydia arguing venomously even as he gently tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. He need to see his pack whole and alive and happy.

Derek pulled back a little, hovering over Stiles on his elbows as they legs tangled together. He face was screwed up in concern and worry, and Stiles rolled his eyes as he pushed gently at Derek's chest.

"We can have a moment to ourselves tonight Derek, but right now I want to see my friends." He bit his lip and looked away, wanting to admit that the thought of a world in which they were dead or had left the pack had honestly scared him, but not wanting to say the actual words.

Derek didn't need the words though. With a suffering sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and held his hand out to help Stiles. "Fine. Okay. We'll get through Pack Night, but no one is sleeping over tonight, don't ask them."

Stiles flashed Derek a toothy grin and grabbed the shirt Derek had torn off from the floor and slipping it on. Good thing it had really ripped. He'd wanted to keep it as a memory of that world. A reminder like the other Stiles had said. A reminder that you never really know how long you have with a person before they are gone or ripped away from you.

The ones who knew about the parallel universe business, looked up at them as Stiles and Derek made their way down the spiral stairs. The first one to greet him was Scott, of course, who dragged Allison into a three way embrace.

Allison's smile had a quirk to it that Stiles couldn't place, but when Scott let them go, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple quickly before stepping away. "I love you Allison." He said seriously. Her absence in the other universe had been a palpable thing, it had been oppressing and jaded and he needed to tell her that he appreciated her existence here now. Her smile seemed to ease at his words before she returned them in kind.

"I love you too Stiles."

Derek's arms were around his waist the second they walked away, with the big wolf walking behind him step for step as they made their way through the crowd to the first three betas Derek had ever turned.

The trio was on the couch playing a very intense, werewolf version of the card came: Bullshit. When they looked up and met Stiles' eyes, he wanted to rush up and hug each one. He'd missed their roughhousing and their person brands of puppy rebellions.

The first one to reach him and Derek though was Isaac and Stiles beamed as the werewolf hugged him, not even caring about Derek at his back, just dragging the Alpha into a hug as well.

"He was very different from you." Isaac said with a frown. "He felt wrong…" It wasn't supposed to be an insult, and no one took it as one. Isaac and Stiles had been close ever since Scott and Allison's second break up that ended with them back together and Isaac heartbroken. Stiles had comforted Isaac and in no time at all, Isaac had become attached to him. In fact, when it came to all three of Derek's Betas, he kind of felt like the Pack mom. He didn't really mind though.

"I know…if felt wrong over there too." Stiles admitted, running his hands through Isaac's soft curls.

When Isaac let go, Erica was next, pecking him on the cheek before practically pressing her neck in his mouth with her attempt to stretch behind him and kiss Derek's cheek too. She laughed though as she pulled back and Stiles flushed a bit. Geez, Erica was such a flirt.

"You're cuter than he was." Erica said with three separate tilts of her head. Left, right, left. She had a way of doing that and making even the motion feel judgmental.

"I'm cuter than myself? Thanks Erica, at least I can put that on my new male model job application." He replied sarcastically, only to get a growl from Derek and a sharp bite to the nape of his neck that made him gasp. Erica practically cackled as she crowded back up against Boyd's chest.

"Don't listen to her. He was cool. I think he might even be snarkier than you." Boyd smirked as Stiles comically widened his eyes to fake a look of pure horror.

He turned sharply in Derek's arms and glared up at his mate. "Boyd just committed the worst insult of my people. What are you prepared to do to defend my honor?"

Derek smirked down at him with a raised eyebrow. "You need me to go around defending your honor now?" The Alpha wolf asked with the teasing lilt that Stiles will never admit to loving.

Stiles huffed in indignation instead. "We haven't seen each other for two days and one night and you won't even defend my honor? I'm going to go find Lydia. She's always willing to belittle people for me." He tried to pry Derek's arms from around him, but Derek didn't even struggle to keep his hold. Stiles was at a very large disadvantage since he would never use harmful magic on a pack member. Not since he'd gotten into a nasty fight with Jackson that turned the poor boy into an actual wolf for two weeks. Lydia had been very amused at him for the first five days, and then she promptly used every resource she had to make Stiles' life miserable for the next nine days of the two weeks. "Let go Derek." He growled playfully. He was trying to glare, he really was but it was so hard to keep from smiling that Stiles eventually just stopped trying.

Derek just hugged him tighter. "Never again."

Isaac laughed as he watched the couple, Erica grinning and Boyd shaking his head. Stiles couldn't be happier, especially when he thought about the ones who were left behind in the other universe.

He remembered once, telling Lydia that 'death doesn't happen to you. It happens to the people around you. To the friends and family that have to stand there at your funeral and figure out what they were going to do now, without you'. He honestly hadn't known how true the statement was until he'd seen it with his own eyes. What the death and loss had left their pack like.

They only socialized for another hour before everyone slowly started to leave. Deaton and Chris Argent leaving first, soon followed by his mother who had hugged him tightly and told him that she expected him and Derek over from lunch. Danny, Ethan, and Aiden left next, Ethan and Danny smiling and holding hands. Apparently they'd talked whatever problem they'd been having out and were now back together. Stiles swore that those two were worse than Scott and Allison but better than Lydia and Jackson, who were both the next couples to leave.

Soon even the beta puppy trio made their way to the car Derek had gotten them to share for graduation.

Once left alone, Derek gathered Stiles into his strong arms as they stood there, at the door to the loft feeling the energy of another successful pack night.

"I wonder how he's doing…" Stiles thought aloud, allowing himself to be cradled and snuggled even as Derek's face was getting further and further into his neck, where Derek would eventually start to nibble and lick, bringing the familiar need Stiles was so attached to now a days.

"Stiles, the boy who was here while you weren't, that was still you. Things happened in a different way, you were different, but every day, we are all different than the person we were yesterday." Derek's logic wasn't off, but Stiles couldn't help but feeling like that wasn't true.

"Derek, don't you ever wonder what you would have been like if you had never met Kate? Or Paige?" Stiles didn't react as he felt Derek stiffen in his arms. He knew it was always a hard topic for Derek to talk about, but it wasn't the open wound it had once been.

As if to prove Stiles' point, Derek relaxed after a while, nodding into Stiles' shoulder and consequentially burying himself further into the freckled and pale neck.

Stiles was putting up a valiant effort to ignore the affects that Derek's affection had on his body.

"You wouldn't be the Derek I know. Could I still love you? Yes, most likely. But you wouldn't be the same, wouldn't even think of yourself as the same person. You disconnected with the child you were in the past, so why is it surprising that I would disconnect with the Stiles I am in another life?" He wasn't pushing for a fight, even though it seemed like it. He had a point here, he just needed to reach it. "I think we are all shaped into the people we become due to the things we faced in our lives. I've had it easy here. Sure it wasn't perfect, life never is, but I've had my mom, my powers, a way to protect myself and those I care about, the other Stiles…he doesn't have much of anything. He's probably closer to his dad than I am to mine. He's probably closer to Scott too, maybe enough that Scott wouldn't have done what he does when he first became a werewolf."

Derek snorted, the breath blown into his neck making him shiver. "Stiles, you might have been different, but Scott wouldn't be. He'd have still ditched you for Allison."

Stiles smiled as he rolled his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd stopped looking at that point in time with anger and jealousy. "Yes fine, but I think it still stands. I am who I am, he is who he is. We aren't the same."

Derek sighed before nodding and resuming his assault on Stiles neck. Stiles only laughed loudly as he allowed Derek to take him. But still, his mind was caught up with the other Stiles.

He wondered briefly if that Stiles would ever feel this. This happiness and this joy. He hoped so, he hoped that mates would always find each other, even in different universes.

"Good luck." Stiles whispered into thin air before his words were lost in a moan.

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_**Broken!Stiles**_

Stiles was expecting a Hale. In fact, he'd left the window open. He just wasn't expecting this Hale.

"Malia…" Stiles breathed out, weak and helpless. He'd been smiling as he turned around on the computer chair to look at the open window, but the smile dropped when he saw the girl standing there. A scowl on her face, her eyes shining blue with hurt and anger and her fangs bared.

"So what? That's it? You're choosing him? From one minute to the next you're choosing him?" Her words were growled, but the pain thrummed in the air around them.

Stiles honestly didn't know what to say to her. He hadn't thought about it actually…Malia herself had slipped his mind and he felt the guilt curling ruthlessly in his stomach. She could smell it on him, he was sure, because he didn't say anything at all, but she seemed to get the hint.

"I thought you loved me!" Malia crouched low a little, looking at Stiles through her lashes, but in the most menacing way Stiles had ever seen from a girl. She was looking at him like she wanted to eat him. Like he was prey she'd scented in the wild and she was ready to pounce. He felt cornered, felt helpless and defenseless. So he started talking.

"I do love you!" He insisted. He was proud of his heart when it didn't stutter in the form of a lie. She was thrown off just enough to drop the stance of attack. "I do love you, like I love Lydia, like I loved Allison at one point…I've looked you all differently but equally but Derek…" And that was it, she pounced.

Stiles managed to catch her wrists but he was thrown off balance, falling back onto the ground and slamming his head onto the hardwood floor. He winced at the pain but he needed to worry about Malia who was quickly overpowering him.

"You were mine! I got to you first! I claimed you first! My scent is on you, all over everything! This is my territory!" She was repeating herself as she tried to reach for his throat, for his face, for his blood and he was fighting her off with strength that he wasn't sure would last.

"Malia!" He yelled, desperate. "Malia! I met him first! I loved him first, I've been his all this time he just never…Malia! Stop!" His strength was giving out and his left arm buckled.

Her claws came straight for his face and caught the side of his cheek, drawing blood and a sharp yelp. "Malia!"

"Stiles!" Derek's booming voice filled the room a second before Malia's form was pulled off of him and thrown against his bedroom door.

Stiles felt the fear round through him one last time as he held a hand to his face and the other out to Derek so that he could be pulled up.

Derek didn't though, he went straight for Malia, who was already ready to pounce herself.

"No!" Stiles yelled, catching the edge of Derek's jeans before scrambling to stand. "No! Stop!" He tried to pull at Derek but the werewolf wouldn't budge, standing in front of Stiles like a shield or a wall. Derek's didn't move nor crouch for an attack. He was just prepared for one to come his way.

"Stop it!" Stiles yelled over Derek's shoulder to Malia. "Stop please!"

Malia looked at Derek with loathing and hatred so deep that Stiles shivered with it. Then her eyes fell on Stiles' face behind Derek's shoulder and her expression broke. Tears fell from her eyes and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Tense silence spread between them as Derek struggled to relax his tense muscles. Stiles didn't have any trouble relaxing once Malia was gone. His shoulders sagged and his head fell onto Derek's shoulder as his legs struggled to keep him up right.

Derek's sudden whirl around almost dropped Stiles to the floor, but strong arms came around him to keep him from dropping.

"I'm sorry…" Derek whispered into his temple.

Stiles could basically feel Derek's regret through his skin, but the second he brought his own arms to wrap them around Derek, the werewolf had let go of him.

With one long suffering look, Derek tossed himself out the window like he was trying to rip himself away from Stiles.

Stiles wasn't sure what to do. So he stood there, staring after Derek like he'd been slapped.

He didn't know how long he stood there, until his attention was caught on something shining on his bedside table.

It was the picture. The one he had taken from the other universe, the one his mother had given him.

"Hey! Genim!"

Stiles was caught by surprise as his own voice called out his real name. When he looked at the picture he saw his face staring back at him, except, the differences were there, defined and pronounced.

"Hey…" Stiles said numbly, not reaching for the picture of moving at all. What was with this, everything happening at the same time and throwing him off so bad he wasn't ever sure what actually had happened.

"I'm sorry. I saw what happened. Mom put a spell in the picture, she wanted to watch over her boy, both of us you know. It's connected to everyone's pictures, all you have to do is touch the picture and say their names…Allison said it'd be okay if you ever wanted to talk to her or if you wanted to let Scott or Lydia talk to her." The Stiles in the picture frame looked unsure if it was a good idea, and Stiles himself didn't really think it was a good idea either. Lose should be final, it should strike once and fade to dull aches.

"Tell her thank you, but Scott has Kira. He needs to move forward and talking to Allison would just encourage him living in the past." In a way, Stiles was glad for this distraction, it allowed him time to think about something other than the events that just took place in his bedroom.

The Stiles in the picture frame looked relieved and the smile showed it.

"Good. That's what I thought too. So…" Fae!Stiles paused, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Mom told me about the picture today and I…I don't know. I wanted to tell you about…but when I called your name and saw you and Derek and Malia I didn't know what to say."

Stiles nodded before he sat down on his computer chair again and dropped his head into his hands.

"I don't know what just happened." Stiles confessed quietly.

"Well, it looked to me like Derek was being a stupid self-sacrificing jerk again." There was a soft 'Hey!' from somewhere outside the frame that had Stiles smiling just a little bit. "So I'm going to let you know what I did when it happened the first time."

There was a pause and Stiles looked up from his hands and into the picture frame, seeing himself and Derek kissing sweetly.

His heart warmed in an unexpected way and suddenly, he knew what _he_ needed to do. This wasn't the other Stiles Derek, this was his Derek and he knew how to handle his Derek.

"It's okay." Stiles smiled a bit. "I know what to do."

The other Stiles and Derek broke apart and looked at him with a smile, they understood too it seems, which was good because Stiles didn't think he could explain if he wanted to.

"Keep in touch okay?" The other Stiles smirked a secret little smile and Stiles copied it before he nodded.

"You too." Stiles breathed. In a second the image of himself and Derek faded and the picture of the pack on Allison's 19th birthday part was back.

Stiles didn't waste any time on slipping on his sneakers, grabbing a jacket and his keys, and making his way out the door. He was just lucky his dad was over at Mellissa's tonight.

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_**Fae!Stiles**_

"You think he's going to be okay?"

Derek rolled his eyes as Stiles repeated those same words for the fifth time that night.

"Stiles why are you so worried?"

Stiles hesitated as he leaned his head back into Derek's shoulder. He was sitting between his Alpha's legs, leaning back against his chest with strong arms around his waist keeping him from pacing around their room in the loft.

"I want something good to happen for him. Just once in his life. I feel like it's unfair. He has this broken life while I…"

"I thought you said you two are different people." Derek chimed in, earning himself an elbow to the gut.

"Not what I mean Derek." Stiles huffed. "I don't say that because he is me, I say it because he is human. I say it because he has been given a shitty life and I don't know…I sort of care about him. I care about all of them."

Derek snorted into Stiles neck but didn't respond. Instead, he sucked a mark into his mate's skin.

"He'll be okay. You two may be different people, but from what I head, his Derek is still the same as me. He'll know what to do, just like you did. When it's meant to be, love finds a way."

Stiles couldn't hold back the snort of laughter at the outrageously cheesy lines that usually never come from Derek.

"I can't believe you just said that! What is this, a Disney move! Derek!" Stiles laughed for a while and Derek shook his head, smiling fondly at the man in his arms.

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_**Broken!Stiles**_

Derek wasn't at the loft. So there was only one other place the werewolf could be.

The Hale House.

Stiles could barely remember the drive there. His mind was caught up thinking about what arguments to make, how to counter every excuse Derek gives, ways to convince Derek that they are worth it. He scrubs roughly at his cheek when it starts to itch and winces when he remembers how Malia's claws had scratched him. Whatever, that wasn't important.

Once he reached the Hale House, he could feel a shift in the air. Like this moment was important, like this moment was another choice that could create another universe. This time though, Stiles resolved to not be the one who ended up with the short end of the stick.

"Derek!"

When Derek came out of the house, eyes hard and ready to push him away, Stiles said the one thing he was sure would throw Derek off his game.

"I want to become a werewolf."

And then he rushed at the 'caught off guard' Derek and pounced, sealing their lips together and holding on tightly to Derek. So tightly that hopefully even Derek's own protests wouldn't keep them apart.

This was his life to live. All of the pain, all of the grief and the death, they all lead him to who he was and he couldn't change any of it. But he could become stronger. He could fight to protect those he still had left. Without his mother there to teach him magic, Stiles only had one option to become stronger.

"I want to be a werewolf." He breathed again, against Derek's lips, laying kiss after kiss. He noticed minutely had he'd thrown his legs around Derek's hips and the wolf was holding him up with both hands under his ass, but he was too focused on both Derek's lips and his new realization.

Human Stiles would find a way to protect everyone, but he would make mistakes in the end…Stiles didn't think his life had any more room for mistakes. He was going to protect his mate, his friends, his Alpha, and himself. He wouldn't be the weak one anymore.

"I love you…" He wouldn't be weak or by himself ever again.

He would never let Derek walk away again.


End file.
